‘Black is beautiful’: Series of events highlight Black students

The Anderson Gallery features art piece by VCUarts student Divine Porter, featured in. Photo courtesy of Divine Porter

Natalie Barr, Staff Writer

Three VCU Black student leaders are taking charge of Black History Month by celebrating Black identity. 

Sydney Wilson, Black Art Student Empowerment president; Eli Brown, Creative Production Collective head curator; and Taya Coates, Black in Fashion president, collaborated and created Black Fidelity — a project focused on empowering Black voices inspired by the themes of Afrorealism and Afrofuturism. 

Black Fidelity is a month-long series of six events showcasing the Black experience using different forms of art, according to Black Fidelity’s Instagram post. 

Wilson said Black History Month often focuses on the suffering Black people faced, but never focused on what the community accomplished or what the future could hold for the Black community — she wants to change the narrative, she said. 

“We really wanted to bring together these events to give people the opportunity to express themselves as much as possible, whether that’s a panel discussion or an exhibition,” Wilson said. “Everyone has a different way they perceive things and that’s really exciting, so just giving people a platform and a safe space to share that voice and be celebrated.” 

The series will consist of an opening gala at The Anderson Gallery on Feb. 1, a closing gala and fashion show on Feb. 25, and more events throughout the month, according to Black Fidelity’s Instagram.

Brown had a vision last spring of hosting an event at The Anderson and knew they wanted to collaborate with BASE, they said. Brown felt they could not do a fashion-related event centered around Black people without Black in Fashion and reached out to Coates to be a part of the vision, they said. The three came together in August and began planning this series, Brown said. 

“It’s been many months since we’ve been developing this,” Brown said. “We’re so happy that it’s coming to fruition, for sure.”

The three student leaders feel there is often not enough representation focused on Black students at the university, they said. Many of the events are focused between two organizations but not well promoted before the event takes place, Coates said.

“We wanted to collab and bring together all of our resources, all of our members, our friends and really make a statement and say, ‘hey, you know what, let’s work together and let’s do this right,’” Coates said.

Coates said she understands what it is like the first time an artist has their work seen and how treasured it is for artists. She wants to provide Black creatives on campus with a platform to showcase their work, she said.

“Giving that [platform] to people who may have not had that before, as well as just helping people be aware of Black art and know it’s not just on Instagram,” Coates said. “You have Black artists around you can support everyday, so get to know them as well,” Coates said.

The opening night gala will feature about 30 VCU students from a variety of different majors and will showcase the Black experience through personal art, Brown said. They hope people will reflect on the pieces, feel inspired and feel accepted, they said. The three creators wanted the gala to be a formal event to celebrate being Black, Brown said.

“Black is beautiful. Being Black is beautiful and always coming back to that theme feels good and letting people appreciate that and be proud of their work,” Brown said.

Wilson hopes Black Fidelity and being inspired by Afrofuturism will give Black students a place to feel seen, represented and accepted as they are, she said.

“There’s nothing wrong with being Black. You should be proud of it. You should stay affirmed in it,” Wilson said. “You should want to see yourself excelling.”

The three students hope the concept of Black Fidelity and events celebrating the Black community will not stop after this year but will continue on and expand, Wilson said.

“Hopefully, from this, it’ll get the ball rolling, spread more awareness, get more organizations involved,” Wilson said. “Opening it up to the Richmond community would definitely be something we would consider.”

Divine Porter, a sophomore VCUarts sculpture and extended media student, feels they have grown as an artist during their time at the university, they said. Porter feels their voice is often suppressed, as they are the minority in their classes and do not believe their white classmates could understand the perspective and message behind their Black-inspired artwork, they said.

“I know that most of my classmates wouldn’t be able to relate as much, or they wouldn’t have a complete perspective to understand the work that I make, since most of my classes have maybe one or two other Black people in them,” Porter said.

Porter heard about this event as a member of BASE, and said they are excited to be a featured artist, as this is their first gallery appearance, they said. They appreciate the opportunity to be showcased at an event fully centered around Black artists to explore their own experience and identity as Black people, they said.

“Being in this exhibition and seeing the other artists fills me with a lot of joy and hope to see where we can go,” Porter said. “It’s definitely empowering to see the opportunities we can make for ourselves and the success we can make for ourselves.”

The opening night reception for Black Fidelity is on Feb. 1, at The Anderson Gallery, 907 ½ W. Franklin St., from 7-9 p.m.

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