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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Media Contact: Jill Schacter jschacter@cityofevanston.org
Phone:  847/448-8628

Evanston Artist to Display "Black Girl Magic" Exhibit 

"Black Girl Magic," a textile abecedarium exhibit celebrating contemporary Black women, will display at the Chicago Ave/Main St. Branch, 900 Chicago Avenue, during the month of November. Artist Dr. Melissa Blount will lead several community events relating to the exhibit, including a presentation on the exhibit and a Black Lives Matter Witness Quilt Sewing Circle where participants can make their own textile square. 

Black Girl Magic features 26 textile pieces, one for each letter of the alphabet, celebrating contemporary Black women. The piece is an exploration of the relegation of many Black women to domestic servitude. After slave shackles were dropped in 1865, Black girls became millionaires, started churches, birthed movements, and ran for President of these United States. Black girls were not meant to survive after the centuries old practice of brutal enslavement, but they did. Black Girl Magic is here to stay and will not be left out of historical or contemporary conversations. In connection with this exhibit, Dr. Blount is inviting the community to create their own textile square in honor of black women who have been victims of random or interpersonal violence. The squares participants will embroider will make the invisible, visible and the unknown, known. 

Melissa Blount is a licensed clinical psychologist, writer, and artist who creates quilts that explore the notions of trauma and white supremacy. Through community sewing circles, she cultivates unique opportunities for people to bear witness to the unjust and violent loss of life in communities of color. Historic and contemporary influences include: Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Frances E. Willard, Mary Ann Pettway, Chyna Pettway, the Gee's Bend Quilters Collective, Amos Kennedy, Ben Blount, Gwendolyn Brooks, Krista Franklin, Bryan Stevenson, Isabel Wilkerson, and Claudia Rankine.

Please join us for the following Black Girl Magic events:  Exhibit: October 31 - December 5, Chicago Ave/Main St. Branch (CAMS), 900 Chicago Avenue Artist Talk: Dr. Blount will discuss her process, the meaning of her work and its relevance in the world today, and the strength that is Black Girl Magic. November 2, 2 - 3 pm, CAMS  Black Lives Matter Witness Quilt Sewing Circle: Come make your own Black Girl Magic quilt square! The project for the day will focus on black women who have been the victims of (or fended off) random and interpersonal violence. All materials will be provided. November 9, 2 - 5 pm, CAMS

About the Evanston Public Library

For more than 140 years, the Library has provided educational, culturally-rich resources for all residents, helped children prepare for school through the joys of reading and learning, celebrated Evanston’s diversity, and helped residents find information they seek. The Library is more than a building of books; it is a place to meet, connect, learn and explore. To learn more, visit www.epl.org.