The exhibition, Shadow to Substance (title taken from Sojourner Truth), is curated by Kimberly Williams, University of Florida Graduate Candidate in English; Dr. Porchia Moore, University of Florida Assistant Professor, Museum Studies and Dr. Carol McCusker, Harn Curator of Photography. Shadow to Substance creates a chronological arc from the past to the present into the future using historical photographs from the Harn and Smathers Library collections and through the lens of Black photographers working today. It examines Jim Crow Florida, the Great Migration, the Civil Rights Movement and Black Lives Matter. But it does so through images that expand ideas around healing, myth, intimacy, joy, resistance and rebirth. The exhibition, and its attending programs, will create a space for visitors to see and identify with uplifting narratives shaped by an invigorated portrait of Black life.
This exhibition is made possible by generous support from Dr. R. James Toussaint and Mrs. Sara Toussaint.
Developed by Kimberly Williams, Exhibition Co-Curator
Click on the image below for the PDF with hyperlinks.
Harriet Tubman audubon.org/news/harriet-tubman-unsung-naturalist-used-owl-calls-signal-underground-railroad
Mother Brown nytimes.com/1970/01/13/archives/mother-brown-of-harlem-dead-born-into-slavery-116-years-ago.html
Sojourner Truth bamlive.s3.amazonaws.com/SojournerTruth-brochure.pdf
Explore the Great Migration mtholyoke.edu/media/exploring-great-migration
Soul Fire Farm soulfirefarm.org/
Kirwan Institute kirwaninstitute.osu.edu/article/racial-disproportionality-school-discipline-implicit-bias-heavily-implicated
School-to-Prison Pipeline nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/school-prison-pipeline-time-shut-it-down
BLM Photos nytimes.com/2016/07/31/magazine/the-superhero-photographs-of-the-black-lives-matter-movement.html
African Mythic Worlds nuvomagazine.com/art/qa-exploring-african-mythic-worlds-with-photographer-ayana-v-jackson
Nap Ministry theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/04/you-are-worthy-of-sleep/610996/
Ericka Hart refinery29.com/en-us/2016/09/123724/afropunk-topless-woman-double-mastectomy
Click here for resources available on the TouchTable in the exhibition.
A Work of Heart with Carol McCusker, Curator of Photography, posted June 25, 2021
Sojourner Truth’s Truth in Photographs with Carol McCusker, Curator of Photography, posted February 26, 2021
Please enjoy more of E. Stanley Richardson's poetry inspired by this exhibition at the Harn's YouTube page.
Light Blue by Stanley E. Richardson
Gallery Talk
Sunday, February 6, 3 pm
Speaker: Dr. Porchia Moore, UF Assistant Professor in Museum Studies
Dr. Moore, exhibition co-curator, provides inspiring and insightful perspectives in the final weeks of this exhibition ranging from historical photographs of African American experiences to the work of contemporary Black photographers.
Museum Nights
Vibrant Africa
Thursday, February 10, 6 - 9 pm
Art, dance and music with UF's African Popular Music Ensemble; the Agbedidi Dance Ensemble and dancers from Nan Nkama Ensemble from Jacksonville. Learn more.
HESCAH Talk
Black Art Futures
Thursday, January 27, 6 pm
Speaker: Cheryl Finley, Associate Professor of Art History Cornell University (On Leave), Director, Atlanta University Center Art History + Curatorial Studies Collective and Distinguished Visiting Professor, Spelman College
Black Art Futures examines the state of the contemporary arts ecosystem to propose sustainable pathways for art, innovation and activism. Drawing on a book in progress of the same name, this talk is inspired by Shadow to Substance, to demonstrate how photography, throughout its history, has played a key role in both documenting and delivering social change.
Lecture & Book Signing
Emancipation Betrayed
Sunday, January 23, 3 pm
Speaker: Paul Ortiz, UF Professor History and director of the UF Samuel Proctor Oral History Program
Paul Ortiz speaks about Black struggles and successes seeking political and economic justice in Florida well before the Civil Rights movement. This lecture, on the occasion of Shadow to Substance, draws from Professor Ortiz’s book "Emancipation Betrayed: The Hidden History of Black Organizing and White Violence in Florida from Reconstruction to the Bloody Election of 1920," available at the book signing that follows the lecture. Presented in conjunction with the Harn exhibition Shadow to Substance
Artist Talk
Endia Beal
Thursday, January 13, 2022, 6:30–8 pm - Live-streamed
Endia Beal–a boundary-pushing socially engaged artist and TIME photographer of the year–will present a live-stream talk to attend in the museum or online and educators will offer micro tours in the galleries.
Gallery Talk
Sunday, September 19, 2021, 3 pm
Join curators Dr. Porchia Moore (UF Assistant Professor of Museum Studies), Kimberly Williams (UF Graduate Student in English) and Dr. Carol McCusker (Harn Curator of Photography) for an overview of the exhibition and a discussion of its inspiring themes.
Harn Museum of Art
3259 Hull Road
Gainesville, Florida 32608
Phone: 352.392.9826
Directions to the Harn
Staff Directory
Accredited by the American
Alliance of Museums.
