SLCC Gallery of Contemporary Art: Thursday, 27 August 2015

Everyone is invited to a group art exhibition that opens next Thursday, August 27 from 4-6:30 pm at the Gallery of Contemporary Art, St. Louis Community College at Forest Park, 5600 Oakland.

The title of the exhibit is "Good Negroes" and will include work by Terrell Carter,Denise Ward-Brown, Najjar Abdul-Musawwir, and Sean Frye.

Over the past year, the St. Louis Metropolitan Region has become one of the national examples of racial and social dysfunction. There have been multiple public discussions about the place of race in St. Louis. Inevitably, one of the questions that is asked during those discussions is “Why can’t black people just be happy?” This is a loaded question. What do the people who usually ask this question mean by the word “happy?”

This exhibition seeks to take a look at what it means for black people in the region to “be happy.” The artists hope to address what happiness looks like, whether it is found through participation in protests, or in following the unwritten rules that serve as foundational for St. Louis in order to not make social or cultural waves.

We hope the works found in this exhibit spurs more open and honest dialogue that will help change our region for good.