UMOJA
A Celebration of Black Artists in Alachua County, Florida
Black artists have been historically and continue to be disproportionally under represented. Our intention is to make space for Black artists and their voices through this exhibition. Our goal is to make and strengthen communal connections and to give recognition and exposure to more Black artists. Our vision is to shape new futures.
PRESENTED BY THE ALACHUA COUNTY COMMUNITY REMEMBRANCE PROJECT (ACCRP) AND THE GAINESVILLE FINE ARTS ASSOCIATION (GFAA)
ABOUT ACCRP:
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ACCRP is a local community group working for truth and reconciliation about our county’s history of lynching and racial terror during the Jim Crow era. We are working in partnership with the Equal Justice Initiative from Montgomery, Alabama, the home of the National Memorial for Peace and Justice which is our nation’s only memorial to the over 4,400 victims of racial terror lynching during that era. ACCRP is educating the community about our history and of it’s legacy of persistent racial disparities in our county, and recognizing and honoring the victims of lynching. We do this by holding community events about our history, or racial disparities, by having soil collection ceremonies to honor the victims, by creating and installing historical markers about our history, and by holding high school essay contests to insure that our youth learn our history. For more information, or to join us, please see truth.alachuacounty.us and follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Alachua-County-Community-Remembrance-Project.
ABOUT GFAA:
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GFAA is actively reaching out to expand our membership and have it be more of a reflection of the diversity of our community, as we recognize it has not been historically. We offer exhibition opportunities, workshops, events, community collaborations, weekly open studio Zooms where artists can connect and more. We are actively working towards exhibitions that include all marginalized people - we recognize that the ultimate goal is not to have 'all Black' exhibitions such as this one, but to provide safe and continuous exhibition and art opportunities for all artists.