Rethinking Patriotism: Gallery Talk with Shani Richards and David Hart
Saturday, June 11, 1 – 2:30 PM
In-Person at The Sculpture Center, 1834 E. 123 St., Cleveland, OH 44106
Free, and open to the public!
Join artist, Shani Richards, and David Hart, Associate Professor of Art History at the Cleveland Institute of Art, for a participatory gallery discussion that will examine the meaning of patriotism at this moment in America. Together with Richards and Hart, the audience will come to define a reimagined patriotism.
Following this event, on July 27, 2022, there will be a Listening Conversation led by the ACLU of Ohio to discuss questions centering civil rights and civil liberties issues.
In her solo show, Patriot, Shani Richards questions the idea of patriotism. Unlike the those involved in the January 6, 2021 Capitol Riots who defined themselves as patriots, as a Black woman in America Richards sees the complexities, ugliness and simultaneous beauty of this country. Through her exhibition, she asks viewers if her multifaceted understanding of the country she calls home disqualifies her from being a true patriot.
About Shani Richards
Shani Richards was born and raised in Akron, Ohio. She attended Myers School of Art at The University of Akron where she was awarded the April Posey scholarship, an award given to promising young woman metalsmithing in 2004. She graduated with BFA in metalsmithing at the University of Akron in 2006. Richards was a featured artist in The Sculpture Center’s 2021 Augmented Reality exhibition, Crossroads: Still We Rise.
About David Hart
David C. Hart, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Art History in the Liberal Arts department at the Cleveland Institute of Art where he has taught since 2003. He received Master’s and Doctorate degrees in art history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research focuses on the art of the Black Atlantic and modern and contemporary art including contemporary Cuban art. The memory works of multimedia artist María Magdalena Campos-Pons, the paintings of Alma W. Thomas, and the work of gallerist Harold R. Hart are the basis of current research for forthcoming publications. He has curated and authored catalogue essays for exhibitions including Inside/Outside: Contemporary Cuban Art and The Art of Exchange: Contemporary Cuban Art in Cleveland among others. David is the author of articles on the intersection of art and identity in several encyclopedias including the Encyclopedia of Race and Racism.
