Currently adorning the walls of the Barbara Crawford Gallery is a collection of art pieces created by 27 Black artists whose lives and works intersect with the city of Philadelphia. This new exhibit, called The Echoes of our Future: 250 Years of Black Artistic Legacy in Philadelphia, commemorates their artistic excellence in honor of the 250th anniversary of the United States.
The Echoes of our Future exhibit was born of a collaboration between Dr. Megan Monaghan, Director of Arts at SCH, and Claudia Volpe, Director of the Petrucci Family Foundation and overseer of their African American Art Collection. “The vision for this show is not only to inspire our students with artistic excellence,” stated Monaghan. “It’s about creating a space for connections, for conversations, and for discovering the voice each of us has in the arts,” she added. When trying to expand the impact of this exhibit, Monaghan developed a program meant to hone the artistic talents of students at SCH and around Philadelphia, titled The Next 250.
The Next 250 is “a living educational project that empowers students across the region to define Philadelphia’s artistic future through workshops, mentorship, and visual storytelling,” as stated on the SCH website. Students will engage with many cross-curricular connections and lessons, community service efforts such as the Barbara Crawford Gallery Food Drive, gallery talks, and a visit from featured artist Tim McFarlane to draw inspiration for their own work.
McFarlane is an artist and educator known for his abstract paintings and works on paper. His works explore the themes of memory, place, and human impact, such as in his piece “Tomorrow’s Conversations” which is featured in the gallery. As part of the Class of 1957 Artist in Residence, McFarlane will work with students to create a collaborative piece that will become a part of the SCH’s permanent art collection in the Thornley Middle School. “He is going to challenge our students to think deeply about the mark they hope to leave in the next 250,” stated Monaghan. “He is a phenomenal teacher, and I’m thrilled that our students will have the chance to connect with him.”
In addition, students in Lower School will be reading Henry Ossawa Tanner: His Boyhood Dreams Come True by artist Faith Ringgold. The story is about Henry Assawa Tanner, a French artist born in the 1800s who became the first African American man to achieve international fame as a painter. His painting, “Nicodemus (Portrait of a Bearded Man)” is displayed in the exhibit. Additionally, students from across all divisions will visit the exhibit with their visual arts teacher to connect with the exhibition in many ways such as “engage with a particular artist that they are studying, or reflect on the exhibit as a whole, or simply find inspiration and sketch.”
As part of the Next 250, while students continue learning about and from the artwork in the exhibit, they will hopefully learn not only about looking back, but to looking forward. “Inspired by these artists’ impact on our city, we’re reflecting on the semiquincentennial by asking the question, what mark will we leave in the next 250?” Monaghan concluded.
