Harlem (also called A Dream Deferred)
by Langston Hughes
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—,
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
What is The Dream Deferred?
When Langston Hughes questioned the potential consequences of white America withholding access to the American Dream from their fellow citizens of color, did he foresee the recent protests and riots as the pending explosion? Why does white America need an explosion to start listening to the cries that Black Lives Matter? The appalling murder of George Floyd on Memorial Day finally got the attention of many people who had managed to remain blind to longstanding systemic injustice and brutality, and became the tipping point for the part of the country that had long sagged under the heavy load of systemic racism. The Dream Deferred is a portfolio exchange and series of exhibitions that seeks to use printmaking as a means of adding to a conversation that is centuries old by being an artistic protest.
We are a collection of artists from all over the continental US and Puerto Rico, representing diversity of ethnic and cultural backgrounds, regions of the country, ages, perspectives, and printmaking media. This show was intended to be accompanied by additional programming to help catalyze healthy discourse around the topic of racial injustice and inequality, but unfortunately COVID-19 has limited much of that. We’re hoping that this site and its online gallery can bring the show to people who are unable to make it to a gallery to see it in person.
Where it’s showing:
Samford University Art Gallery (Birmingham, AL)
August 24 – October 22, 2020
Jacksonville State University Art Gallery (Jacksonville, AL)
September 4 – September 24, 2020
Blanc Gallery (Chicago, IL)
Opening September 18, 2020
Gadsden Museum of Art (Gadsden, AL)
June 4 – July 30, 2021
Macalester College (Minneapolis, MN)
TBD
University of Tennessee Knoxville University (Knoxville, TN)
TBD
Chicago State University (Chicago, IL)
TBD
Elmhurst University (Elmhurst, IL)
TBD
Stephen Smith Art Gallery (Fairfield, AL)
Spring 2021 (Exact dates TBD)
Organized by:
Geoff Sciacca, MFA
Associate Professor
Samford University
Division of Art & Design
Geoff has been exploring how art & design can challenge people’s prejudices since creating a senior project at Auburn University entitled “Eracism” back in 2003. Half of a biracial marriage, there isn’t a day that goes by where he doesn’t have to think about race and culture. He hopes that his position at an esteemed place of higher learning, and his involvement in projects like this will help push people out of their comfort zones and move the needle in the direction it needs to.
Christian Dunn, MFA
Assistant Professor
Jacksonville State University
Department of Art+Design
Christian is the son of a long history of military families. Born in the northwest, he spent his childhood in Europe before returning to Louisiana. Cultural diversities were naturally ingrained in Christian through these many environments, and loving others was instilled by his parents. Now as a professor and a father, he takes teaching these things to his students—and maybe more importantly to his son—knowing that they are the next generations that we hope to pass this baton to.