Black Nouveau

(upbeat music) This is a "Black Nouveau Web Exclusive." Throughout the month of February, Mahogany Gallery will host the Wisconsin Black Art and Culture Expo, which will include events and exhibitions centered around spotlighting black artists near and far. We're joined by Mahogany Gallery owner Scott Terry, to tell us more. Hi Scott. Hey. Good morning, good morning. How are you doing Alexandria? I'm doing well. It's always a pleasure. So first, let's just tell me a bit about what the Wisconsin Black Art and Culture Expo is and what inspired it. Yeah, sure. So, you know, I had the idea that, you know, Wisconsin, black artists specifically, and artists in the Midwest, could use a platform to showcase their work and also reach, you know, bigger audiences, and also celebrate the contributions of black creatives throughout historically, and then also throughout the Midwest. So it's not just about the visual arts, but it's also about, you know, fashion. It's also about authors, and poets, and literary contributions to the world, as well as, you know, the visual arts. So, you know, I'm excited. There's several components that comprise the expo. So I'm really excited to have all these pieces put together, and also the sponsors that we have on board that are supporting, you know, our work with the Wisconsin Black Art and Culture Expo 2022. And what are some of the scheduled events that you all be showing? Sure. So here at the gallery, I'm excited because we have an art show, an art exhibit called Legacies & Resilience, which is an art exhibition that focuses on and speaks to the influence of black creatives in history, you know, and also just our presence here in America and how we have, you know, fought and overcome so many issues and movements, you know, here and in America. So this is a visual representation of that, and that's what the art show exhibit's about. And we've got 15 artists from the Midwest. The bulk of them are from Wisconsin. And also a fashion show, which I'm also excited about. March 19th that kicks off at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. And we have six black-owned fashion retailers who are all taking part in working together as a team to showcase their products and their apparel to the masses and to the audience. And also, there's a tribute to black poets that takes place here at Mahogany Gallery. That takes place towards the end of February. And there's also music performances. So we have a performance from Greg Murphy who is a award-winning jazz pianist. The Greg Murphy Trio is performing at Mahogany, as well as UW-Parkside. That is February 11th. And we also have an opera singer who's really creating and doing some unique work in that space. And we want to celebrate those contributions. So, you know, the entire goal of the expo is to showcase that, you know, black is not a monolith and we have, you know, experience and creativity in the many different genres that encompass the arts. So that's what the Black Arts and Culture Expo is about. We're also joined by Nehemiah Edwards, who's one of the artists that will be included in one of the expos exhibitions. So Nehemiah, can you tell us a little bit about your role in the exhibition? Yes. Nehemiah again, also go by Nemo Greater, just the name that I use, my artistic name. Yeah, so my role in the expo is I'm new to the gallery, Mahogany Gallery, and they're in partnership with a couple of entities to put this program on. And, you know, I'm just here to showcase some of my work that is related to the theme of the gallery, which is, you know, black art and how that, you know, plays in society. And yeah, just, you know, here to be a part of the journey and the growth of this new gallery and exhibit what could be, I don't know, something that plays well into what is going to be shown throughout this exhibition. And the theme of the exhibition is Legacies & Resilience, correct? -

Nehemiah

Uh-huh. Can you tell a little bit about what that means and the piece that you have included in that exhibition? Yeah, and so the piece that I have included is one of my larger pieces. It's almost about five feet by seven, eight feet. And it showcases, and a lot of my work what it showcases is a depiction of angels and demons, but I sort of put a twist on them to, you know, highlight how... And my demon character is typically white in color, the angel character is black in color. Not to put any sort of significance on that when it comes to race, because I know a lot of times when people see my work and, you know, I knew of this when I was doing work to begin with, is that people can tie race into it. When we typically display things that are good of nature and evil in nature, we tend to reverse the colors and we put the dark on things that are typically associated with bad, or evil, or dark and the light and the white on things that are good in nature of light. But also, just highlighting the fact that colors in a situation like this shouldn't matter. But yeah, I mean, Legacy in general, and what that means to me is, you know, we have a long journey as black people in particular, we've had a journey in which we have had to always overcome throughout our entire lives, in our entire existence here in this country. And I think overall, it just comes to show the strength of black people and the things that we can accomplish throughout the landscape of time with such a resistance up against us throughout our entire existence here in this country. And so just being able to be a part of a show in which we can highlight us, as black people being able to still be here, still standing and still thriving in a lot of areas of life. I think it was important. Awesome. Well, thank you Nehemiah. Yeah, no worries. Thank you. And who should come out to this event? Anyone. I mean, anyone who is an art enthusiast, anyone who enjoys music, anyone who enjoys live music, anyone who appreciates black history, and also the contributions that, you know, we have made collectively to the culture, and to America, and the world. So anyone who has an appreciation for the arts, just in general. And when does the expo kick off and how do people get involved? Oh, the expo kicks off February 3rd with Artist Talk at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. That Artist Talk, the title of that is "Building Your Career as a Black Artist." That one is geared specifically for other young artists, emerging artists who want to build their own art practice. And there is a panel of artists who've experienced, professional black artists who have experienced, you know, selling their work and exhibiting, and they kind of can help other emerging artists navigate the space. To get involved you can go through the website, mahoganygallery.com/wisconsinblackart. That's where all of the event activities reside, the times, and the logistics, and locations, and who's participating. And you can sign up for each particular RSVP, each particular event, on the website. And the majority of the expo is free and that's courtesy all of our sponsors, that we're excited to have on board to make that possible. Awesome. So again, for those that may have missed it, the expo kicks off February 3rd at UW-Parkside. And for any additional information, check out mahoganygallery.com. Thank you so much for joining me today, Scott. All right, thank you for having me, Alexandria. It's always a pleasure. Yes. All right. Thank you. (upbeat music)