MEET THE ARTIST RECEPTION AND BOOKSIGNING AT OLD TOWN HALL MUSEUM
Distinguished photographer, Wendel A. White, will be honored at a Meet0the-Artist reception and booksigning at Old Town Hall Museum, 62 S. Main St., Mullica Hill, on Sunday, April 3rd, 1-4 pm.
Acclaimed artist Wendel A. White returns to Old Town Hall Museum in Mullica Hill on Sunday, April 3, 1-4 PM, where his exhibition, Schools for the Colored, is currently on view. A distinguished Professor of Fine Art at Stockton University and recently featured on NJTV’s “State of the Arts”, White will be feted with a reception celebrating his work and contributions to the Harrison Township Historical Society this Spring.
Last year, White was selected as Robert Gardner Fellow in Photography, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University. He is using the Fellowship to work on “Manifest: Thirteen Colonies,” in which he is photographing African-American material culture housed in both public and private collections throughout the original thirteen colonies. The objects run the gamut from rare and singular artifacts to objects that might be considered commonplace.
“These artifacts,” White explains, “are the forensic evidence of Black life and events in the United States.”
“Manifest” is an outgrowth of two of White’s early projects exploring the architecture and cultural artifacts of Black community life, both of which had their origins in South Jersey.
“Small Towns, Black Lives,” focusing on historically Black communities in the southern counties, opened at the Noyes Museum of Art in 2003. This project inspired White to focus specifically on the segregated schoolhouses in those communities, resulting in “Schools for the Colored.” The current installation at Old Town Hall Museum features schoolhouses in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and was made possible in part by funding from The Gloucester County Cultural and Heritage Commission at Rowan College of South Jersey, a partner of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Copies of White’s book, “Small Towns, Black Lives,” will be available for purchase and signing at the reception, proceeds from which will benefit the Noyes Museum and the Harrison Township Historical Society. Sunday’s event is open to the public and there is no admission charge. The exhibition will continue on view Saturdays and Sundays, 1-4 pm, through May 22nd.
Old Town Hall Museum is located in the heart of Mullica hill’s Historic District at 62 S. Main Street. For information on this and all the Harrison Township Historical Society’s events visit harrisonhistorical.com and 856-478-4949.
