The Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning celebrates Black History Month with two exhibitions.
Now on display in the Visitors Gallery is “Memory,” curated by Robert Craddock, which highlights Hazel Louise Woods-Sanders’ artistic collection of various African masks, statues and artifacts which she collected throughout her journeys to different regions of the African continent.
Some of her travels included tours to Kenya, Ghana, Zaire and the Sudan.
Upon her death in 2013, her family thought it best to donate these artifacts to share in her memory and teach the significance of African culture in contemporary art. The objects in the “Memory” exhibition, both singly and as an ensemble, have the power to tell stories.
Little is known about the actuality of their creation and how they came into the possession of Woods-Sanders.
Approach the work with open eyes and an embracing heart, at whatever level is appropriate for you.
JCAL historically has been a nodal point of cross-cultural awareness and art mediated civic discourse.
Also on display in the Miller Gallery is “Quilting Our Personal Expressions,” an exhibition highlighting the work of the 50 women who make up the Quilt-N-Queens quilt guild.
The women, who met monthly from September 2013 to June 2014, shared information and taught each other new techniques, while also serving as a social outlet for women to share a mosaic of personal experiences etched in every stitch of the quilts which were created.
Both exhibits are open to the public and are free. Thess exhibitions run through Feb. 21.
The Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning is located at 161-04 Jamaica Ave., Jamaica.
For more information on the JCAL, call (718) 658-7400, ext. 2121, or visit its website at www.jcal.org.
