Art & Cultural Events List

“African American Artists – Passion for a Lifetime”
October 27th, Sunday, 3-5PM
Riverside Gallery
Cambridge Community Center || 5 Callender Street || Cambridge MA 02139
facebook.com/RiversideGallery www.cambridgecc.org/riverside-gallery.html
“African American Artists – Passion for a Lifetime”

The Riverside Gallery is pleased to announce its 2nd annual juried fall show, “African American Artists – Passion for
a Lifetime”. We are delighted to have Rosalyn Elder, L'Merchie Frazier, and James Hull for our jury panel for the
Riverside Gallery's second annual exhibit of fine art by African American artists. Rosalyn Elder is an author, an
architect, and a former owner of the independent bookstore, Jamaicaway Books and the art gallery, Treasured Legacy
at Copley Place. L'Merchie Frazier, a multi-media artist, is currently the Director of Education/Interpretation at the
Museum of African American History, and special project artist for the Museum of the National Center for Afro-
American Artists with curatorial and juror experience. James Hull is an artist, gallery director, critic and an
independent curator, and currently teaches in the photo department at AIB at Lesley University.

A variety of art media are represented in the exhibit including quilt working, photography, mixed media with found
objects, bead embroidery, photo-collage, scratch-board drawing, charcoal drawing, painting with watercolor, acrylic,
acrylic gouache, and oil. This selected array of work promises to be a thought provoking and entertaining exhibition.
The Riverside Gallery is in its 4th year of producing fine arts exhibitions in its space at the Cambridge Community
Center. We are particularly excited about this show of work by artists of African descent, as this is the historic
constituency of the Center. The Center itself was founded by a group of Black ministers in the 1920’s as a community
meeting house, to promote the health and welfare of the Riverside children.

Through the years, the Center has been a place to be with friends, to make music, to play basketball, to try arts and
crafts, to learn leadership skills and to discuss community issues, and has provided services to 3rd, 4th and 5th family
generations.

The Riverside Gallery hosts shows of fine art year-round, providing opportunities for local and regional artists to
exhibit their work. We welcome all art-lovers and those with the desire to learn more about the arts to attend our
receptions and enjoy live music, refreshments, amazing art work, and an opportunity to spend time with your friends,
meet new friends, and talk to the artists about their work. This will be a perfect chance to learn more and experience
more of the wonderful world of the arts.

Our show “African American Artists – Passion for a Lifetime” includes art by:

 Myron Mouse Belfast – figurative charcoal pieces that employ precise line working, gradation, tone and form
to create a finished product that appears to be almost 3D
 Marilyn Casey – watercolor that depicts the love and devotion of the artist’s mother, a piece that is part of the
artist’s life history
 Arlette Doherty – colorful, vibrant, and gestural abstract paintings on canvas
 Cedric Harper – pieces using recycled, repaired and reimagined materials from an artist who says “I've
opened myself now, from the cries of the past to the worlds and wonder of tomorrow”
 Naomi Henry – quilt making crafted by hands which have created unique non-repeated quilts for thirty years
 Wilson Hunt – non-representational abstract acrylic gouache pieces on paper drawn from the artists
imagination
 Camille Musser – acrylic painting paying homage to the beauty and splendor of the Caribbean
 Derrick Jackson – photography of historic black figures, from Aretha Franklin and Hank Aaron to Nelson
Mandela and Barack Obama
 Stephanie Machore – oil on canvas treating meta-physical concepts, love and spirituality
 Robert W Murrell – photo-collage, and scratchboard drawing focusing on the individual or small groups
within a larger exciting setting
 Jeffrey Nathaniel Nowlin – fabric panel with mixed media that was created in times of personal illness with a
devotion to craft and an expressive vision
 Lesyslie Rackard – quilts with strong, powerful colors and repeating patterns
 Cynthia Scott – acrylic paintings on watercolor paper exploring facial expressions, body language, hats - the
way individuals present themselves
 Gilda Sharpe-Etteh – works exploring her dreams of Jamaica with a contemporary surrealist approach
 Zahirah Nur Truth – colorful upbeat works combining technique with unique personality and style
 Shaanti "Whut Good" Williams – gestural pieces exploring the human figure and expression

We are delighted to have live music at the artists reception on October 27th from The Limbix Duo, Liz Ehrman, cello
and Rost Varick, keyboard. We will be entertained with renditions from some brilliant African American composers,
including Mingus, Monk and Miles.

Bring your friends, connect with the vibrant African American artist community of Cambridge and beyond, meet new
friends, enjoy some tasty snacks and good music, celebrate the community connections of the Cambridge Community
Center. Please join us!

Carol E. Moses, Director;
Julie Hall, Co-Curator
contact: Riversidegallery@fastmail.net