On February 1st, Kirkland Fine Arts Center’s Robert Crowder Gallery will feature a new exhibition created around civil rights.
The Our Freedom, Our Rights exhibition will include both historical and contemporary elements, and is bound to leave a lasting statement that is also relevant to our current political climate.
“The exhibition is actually a collection that was put together by a single collector,” Edwin Walker, an Associate Professor of Art at Millikin University, said. “His name is Marc Willis… He was a veteran in the Army, and he served overseas. He is a patriot and just collected things that were important to him from both an aesthetic perspective and a historical perspective.”
The exhibition will be centered around Marc Willis’ collection. To add to the exhibition, the Millikin graphic design students were given the opportunity to design a number of posters and stickers to be featured as well.
But why does this collection matter?
“We wanted to try to deal with the idea of civil rights for the month of February, Black History Month,” Walker said. “We can’t be silent about what’s happening in society today. Not from [a] left or right or political standpoint, but just a factual reality of being aware of what your rights are and what it took to maintain the freedom to exercise those rights in our society.”
What this exhibit beholds is not only a political statement, but a reminder of history, specifically the historical fight for civil rights, something being challenged once again.
“The exhibition is very timely in that regard, and some of the images are really poignant towards the idea of preserving our rights and our freedom, because so much was spent in securing that,” Walker said.
With the current divide our country faces, and with the call to speak up, art is just another way to do that. Sometimes art can be louder than any voice ever could.
“I think we all stand on the idea of preserving our democracy, so it’s a patriotic stance,” Walker said. “I think we get caught up in our day-to-day, you know? Cranking things off, projects, assignments, classes, and things like that. And we can take for granted the freedoms and the rights that we do have as Americans, and if there was ever a time to make people more aware or to provide an opportunity to help educate people about what the cost was for that freedom, this is that exhibition.”
On February 1st, the opening day for the exhibition, Mr. Willis will be available to answer any questions about the collection. In addition, there will be a reception and discussion held on Thursday, February 5th, from 4-6 pm.
The collection will be available to view in the Robert Crowder Gallery in KFAC from February 1st until March 27th, so stop by and take a look while you have the chance.
