Mothers Musings: A Multi-Institutional Exhibition Exploring Black Motherhood

The multi-institutional exhibition and panel series “Magic, Mirth, and Mortality: Musings on Black Motherhood” will be held this month at two separate locations throughout St. Augustine. Both the exhibition and panel series are inspired by the lived experiences of writer, curator, wife, and mother Shawana Brooks, and celebrates the resilience of Black mothers through the lens of visual and literary art, and historical and archival objects.

Centered on Brooks’ during her pregnancy and the premature birth of her son Roosevelt, her “musings” will be shown alongside artwork by Cheryl McCain, Marsha Hatcher, and Tatiana Kitchen. The visual and literary component will be supplemented with local and national statistics that demonstrate current inequalities to healthcare access that Black women continue to face.

The exhibition component of “Magic, Mirth, and Mortality: Musings on Black Motherhood” will take place at the The Lincolnville Museum & Cultural Center at 102 M L King Avenue and at the St. Augustine Historical Society at 14 St. Francis Street. Both locations will open on Fri.day, April 1st from 5pm-9pm in conjunction with the First Friday Art Walk. Related panels will take place at Flagler College throughout April.

On Saturday, April 23rd, the artists will lead a panel discussion to talk about their work in relation to the exhibition, historical representations of Motherhood in art, and the issues around the representation of BIPOC women artists within the fields of visual and literary art.

For more information about the exhibition and related programs, please email jdickover@flagler.edu or jeanette@sahs1883.com.