A century ago a group of civic-minded women, the Committee of 1926, exhibited paintings by Philadelphia artists at the Sesquicentennial, excluding artists of color. This fall, the Committee is celebrating its centennial and America’s 250th anniversary with a landmark art exhibition and sale, From Invisible to Invincible: Honoring the Art of Color, featuring 12 renowned regional Black, Latino and LGBTQIA+ artists.
Strawberry Mansion, built in 1789, is the largest of Fairmount Park’s seven historic houses. | Photo: Michael Bixler
The location, Historic Strawberry Mansion at 2450 Strawberry Mansion Drive, is significant. In 1930, the Committee of 1926 was tasked with renovating the largest historic house in Fairmount Park. Built in 1789 by abolitionist Judge William Lewis, it had fallen into disrepair. In 1931, the mansion reopened to the public as an historic site, completely restored, with museum-quality collections of period furniture, chandeliers, paintings, carpets, fine china, and antique toys. However, the Committee’s mission isn’t just about preserving the past. It is about celebrating Philadelphia’s lively cultural scene. For that purpose, staff and volunteers of Historic Strawberry Mansion temporarily removed all of its 18th and 19th century furnishings from the first floor to create a warren of high metal fencing for each artist’s display area, indicating the barriers artists of color faced in previous generations.
“The inspiration for this exhibition comes from that moment a century ago,” said Constance Ragsdale, the first African American president of The Committee of 1926. “The Sesquicentennial paid lip service to diversity, but did not allocate resources fairly or treat marginalized groups with dignity, including the Black, Jewish and Catholic community. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to help right that wrong 100 years later, ”
Artist Richard Watson. | Photo courtesy of Historic Strawberry Mansion
How bad was discrimination back then? Black visitors and residents were barred from entering restaurants on the fairgrounds or participate in the Veterans Day parade. An article in the June 23, 1926 edition of The New York Times stated that Philadelphia Mayor W. Freeland Kendrick initially granted the Klu Klux Klan the right to march down Broad Street during the Sesquicentennial, which he later denied. Still, crosses burned outside of Philadelphia.
Each of the 12 artists explores different aspects of the same theme, using a wide array of mediums: oil paintings, acrylics, watercolor, woodwork, textiles, photography, prints, and three-dimensional art. Collage artist Yolanda Ward uses paper to create her personal vision of the African American experience. “I call it layering,” said Ward, “The paper is layered, as are the personal stories my art tells.” Fabric artist Sherry Shine uses contrasting textures to stitch brightly colored scenes from Black life during the early 20th century.
Artist Yolanda Ward. | Photo courtesy of Historic Strawberry Mansion
Henry Bermudez, an Afro-Venzuelan artist, created a floor-to-ceiling mural representing 250 years of South American immigration with images rooted in Inca mythology and Afro-Caribbean culture. Although it is based on Bermudez’s own experience, it is impossible to stand before it and not think of the challenges facing today’s Hispanic and Haitian immigrants.
Many of the exhibitors are artists whose work spans decades. Barbara Bullock’s art reflects her award-winning 50-year career, from figurative to abstract work, from collage to painting. While Richard J Watson displays intricate collages revealing his lifetime involvement as a Civil Rights activist, his work as an artist has included murals, paintings, and wearable art. Other participating artists include ceramicist and sculptor Syd Carpenter, mixed media artist Martina Johnson-Allen, abstract painter Tim McFarlane, figurative painter Tom McKinney, sculptor Pedro Ospina, printmaker Ron Rumford, and photographer Steven CW Taylor. While all artists featured draw on the same theme of invincibility, their work is highly divergent.
Artist Henry Bermudez. | Photo courtesy of Historic Strawberry Mansion
“These artists understand the significance of showing their work in Historic Strawberry Mansion,” said Maryl Hitchings, the exhibition’s curator and member of The Committee of 1926. “For some, there is a profound awareness that there was a time when they would not have felt welcome in this house. Now, they are not only here, they are bringing their work into it. That makes this moment incredibly powerful.”
It is difficult in today’s political climate to celebrate these particular artists without putting them into historic context. At a time when the Trump Administration is dictating what the public is allowed to see, what the press is allowed to report, and threatening to demolish major cultural institutions, we are not that far removed from 1937 Nazi Germany’s exhibition of Entartete Kunst (Degenerate Art.) While the inclusion of people of color has come a long way, the recent removal of signage at the President’s House on Independence Mall referencing slavery is telling. All the more reason to support this timely exhibition.
A weekly series of artist conversations will take place a Historic Strawberry Mansion from September 26 through October 31 at 2 p.m.
See their website for exhibition and event details and hours of operation: historicstrawberrymansion.org
