Our Programs & Exhibitions
ART ON THE VINE
Art on the Vine presented by The Agora Culture is Martha Vineyard’s premier art exhibition featuring a broad selection of works from contemporary artists of color, and various educational panels for new and seasoned collectors. Art on the Vine is the first major multicultural arts event to bring together art appreciators, collectors, up-and-coming artists, institutions, and the merely curious for a one-of-a-kind cultural explosion. The event takes place every August at the distinguished Dr. Daniel Fisher House in Edgartown, MA. Notable guests have included Debra Lee, Peggy Cooper Cafritz, Faye and Bob Davidson, and more. Art on the Vine is a nonprofit subsidiary of The Agora Culture.
DATES
Saturday, August 10 - Wednesday August 14, 2019
Morning, Afternoon or Evening
Location
89 Main Street
Edgartown, MA 02539
SAVAGE LEWIS ARTIST RESIDENCY
Inspired by the collaborative nature of Augusta Savage and Noman Lewis’s time on Martha’s Vineyard, AOTV has established a four-week residency that will support two artists from distinct practices that work both separately and collaboratively to create new works.
Norman Lewis and Augusta Savage met in Harlem in the early 1930s. In 1932, Savage was elected to the National Association of Women Painters, was represented by Argent Galleries and founded her Studio of Arts and Crafts in Harlem. Lewis took classes from her while attending Columbia University and the John Reed Club Art school from 1933 to 1935. In 1933, Savage expanded her studio and founded the Harlem Art Workshop at 306 West 141st Street. Lewis also was accepted into the Federal Arts Project of the WPA, and joined Savage at the "306" and the Harlem Arts Guild. By 1937, Savage was named the first director of the Harlem Community Art Center, under the auspices of the WPA, where Lewis taught classes.
Augusta Savage and Norman Lewis stayed at the Hubert family cabin during the summer of 1935. They were guests of the great-grandparents of the current owners, and stayed at the cabin while the family lived in the Stone House. The family recounted how the artists' visit caused some excitement, given their profession and the disparity in their ages. According to the family, Norman Lewis also painted some murals on the walls of the Stone House. Unfortunately, the building lost its roof in a hurricane, and in the time before it was repaired, the murals were lost.
DATES
Thursday, May 23 - Thursday, June 20, 2019
Location
Martha’s Vineyard
Oak Bluffs, MA
BLACKFACE
Galerie Myrtis and The Agora Culture present Blackface: A Reclamation of Beauty, Power, and Narrative a group exhibition featuring the work of artists Tawny Chatmon, Alfred Conteh, Jerrell Gibbs, Jas Knight, Arvie Smith, and Felandus Thames.
In asserting the beauty of the black body, affirming its power— and societal and historical place, curators Myrtis Bedolla and Jessica Stafford Davis offer a counter-narrative to the racist archetypes that evolved from 18th-century minstrelsy, and its negative stereotyping of African Americans that prevails today.
Blackface addresses African American self-representation by way of an expressed ownership and reclamation of one’s own critical lens. Six artists: Alfred Conteh, Arvie Smith, Felandus Thames, Jerrell Gibbs, Jas Knight, and Tawny Chatmon present work that unpacks this “for us by us” viewpoint, as they critique the current black experience. Through photography, portraiture, genre paintings, and multimedia works these artists continue to normalize the black experience through the gaze of their communities.
“Blackface” is a derogatory practice in which theatrical performers cover their face with a black substance, exaggerating the facial features of black people making them into caricatures. By using this term, there is a subversion and shift in the narrative, allowing the black community to reclaim and discuss their power.
DATES
Saturday April 20 – Saturday June 15, 2019
Location
Galerie Myrtis
2224 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 12345