Schedule Of Events

7pm : Delita Martin

“Paean to Black Womanhood”

Visual storyteller Delita Martin reconstructs the identity of Black women and their roles within community and family structures. Through multiple mediums she builds a visual language of signs and symbols found in everyday life, from slavery through modern times, to offer a different perspective of marginalized Black women. Join ACANSA and Potluck and Poison Ivy as Delita shares how the intersections of art and life have guided her from childhood inspiration through her time as a lecturer at the University of Arkansas Little Rock and on to the exhibition of her work in more than 28 museums and institutions worldwide.

Visual Storyteller

Delita Martin, born in Conroe, Texas, is a contemporary artist living and working in Huffman, Texas. She received her BFA in drawing from Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas. She then completed her graduate work at Purdue University where she received an MFA in 2009 with an emphasis in Printmaking, Drawing, Mixed Media, and Installation. Formally a member of the fine arts faculty at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Martin is currently working as a full-time artist in her studio, Black Box Press. Martin’s work explores the beauty and complexity of spiritual identities, primarily working from oral traditions, along with vintage and family photographs as a source of inspiration.  Through her mixed-media printmaking practice, which includes the layering of various printmaking processes, drawing, painting, collaging, and hand-stitching, she celebrates their strength and resilience in a world that often overlooks or devalues African American Women. She uses patterns, texture, and color, to create immersive veilscapes (spirit worlds), that are deeply personal yet accessible to viewers. Her layering of technique signifies a liminal space – the space between the waking life and the spirit life. Martin’s distinctive style combines elements of realism, abstractions, and symbolism, creating bold and beautiful portraits of Black Women as they transition between the spirit world and the waking world. She continues to explore the complex layers of identity and experiences, celebrating the powerful legacy of African American Women. Martin served has as 2021 keynote speaker for the Mid America Print Council and keynote speaker and organizer of Presidential Panel at the Southern Graphics Council International (SGCI) Annual Conference in 2024. Her work has exhibited both nationally and internationally, participating in 25 solo exhibitions and included in over 60 group exhibitions throughout the United States, and internationally in Cuba, Denmark, Portugal, London, Italy, Germany, and India. Notably, her work exhibited in the 2022 Venice Biennale, National Museum for Women in the Arts in Washington, DC and welcomed into the Library of Congress.

Doors open at 6pm. Show starts at 7pm.

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