Gainesville art enthusiasts gathered at the Harn Museum of Art Saturday afternoon to create, dance, eat and connect during its free “Silver Linings” Community Day.
Upon entering the auditorium, visitors were met with music and smiling faces. Activities included line dancing, screen printing T-shirts, notebook making, art kit giveaways and a community art activity titled “Pieces of Us.”
The event focused on an exhibit titled “‘Silver Linings’: Celebrating the Spelman Art Collection,” which is on loan from Spelman College, one of two historically Black all-female colleges in the United States.
The exhibit showcases the significance of historically Black colleges and universities. It highlights themes of identity, resilience and cultural legacy by uplifting historically underrepresented artists.
The exhibit consists of 39 works by nearly 30 artists of African descent, including paintings, drawings, sculptures, mixed-media collages, prints and photographs. It features artists like Benny Andrews, Sam Gilliam and Faith Ringgold.
Tammi Wroath, the director of marketing and public relations at the Harn, was one of the faces behind the community day.
“We want the community to come in to see the exhibition and get creative and learn how they might connect with the works of art by dancing or listening to music,” Wroath said.
Guests had the opportunity to put their minds to designing something. The chance to slow down, create freely and connect with others through art led to new connections.
“Art is a great way to destress, to learn more about yourself and also to learn more about your community,” she said.
The core activity based on the exhibit was the “Pieces of Us” community mural designed by the artist-in-residence, Jessica Clermont. The 24-year-old artist has been working three times a week for five hours a day since March, creating art inspired by the Spelman collection.
She crafted abstract puzzle-like pieces that tie together the generations of women in her family: the “silver lining.”
“It discusses how we connect,” Clermont said. “Each of our forms form each other. However, there are still little pieces and spaces for other things that are left unsaid but still very important to us.”
With Clermont’s wooden puzzle frame as a base, participants transformed abstract paper shapes into vibrant reflections guided by questions like “What is a ‘silver lining’ you’ve discovered in your life recently?”
Visitors were tasked with drawing, writing or decorating their shapes, which would then be taped onto the wooden frame, each piece adding to a growing community mural.
The goal was for participants to express themselves and share it with others around them, Clermont said. It was a low-stress activity meant to make guests have fun and feel like children again.
Guided by music, food and laughter, guests were encouraged to spark conversations, explore the space and connect with those around them. By sitting down and representing themselves through creation, personalities were on full display.
Shawna Dell, a Gainesville resident and a Harn member, created her own journal in an activity sponsored by Bailey Learning and Arts Collective, a nonprofit dedicated to teaching communities through affordable activities and arts education. The cover of the book was bright green, her favorite color, which roused conversations about others’ favorite colors.
“It is beautiful, it is inclusive, it’s fun,” Dell said. “It is what it means to be in the community where you’re not by yourself. No one’s an island.”
She couldn’t pick a favorite piece from the Spelman collection. To her, the exhibit’s deeper message was just as powerful as the artwork itself.
“I think in today’s society, diversity can be seen as something as scary,” Dell said. “Our country is built on diversity, so it is just another way to look at different people, different cultures, where we realize that we’re all the same.”
For some, the event wasn’t their first time at the exhibit. Michael Addison, a 73-year-old retired teacher, has come to see the collection three times.
His favorite piece is “Groovin’ High” by Faith Ringgold, a vibrant, jazz-inspired story quilt that celebrates Black culture through dancing figures and bold patterns. It reminds him of life, he said.
“I really appreciate the fact that they brought the Spelman art exhibit here,” Addison said. “I think it’s very nice to have some diversity in their art display.”
Though the community day is over, the “Silver Linings” exhibit runs at the Harn Museum through July 6.
Contact Isis Snow at isnow@alligator.org. Follow her on X @snow_isisUF.
Isis Snow is a junior sports journalism student and a general assignment reporter for The Avenue. She enjoys reading and working out whenever she has the opportunity.
