Attending author talks/book readings: 2 points

 

Attended the Author discussion of Primary: After and With Alma Thomas, written by Alexis Pauline Gumbs. Alma Thomas was a 20th-century Black educator and artist. Gumbs spent years with Thomas’s art, fortunately through the archive created by her sister, and wrote poetry for each piece. I went with a group of English students as the only art students, and we each had different perspectives. They focused more on the poetry, specifically ekphrastic poetry, which is written in response to art. I was not too aware of the types of poetry and instead focused on Thomas’s art, which is vibrant and colorful. There was a discussion of her being an apolitical artist because her work did not explicitly address social issues such as segregation. However, her role as an educator and painting the space around her is political because she brings awareness to ongoing issues. She brought Black children to galleries that they were not allowed in. I’m not sure how I feel about Gumbs's biography of Alna Thomas through poems. I feel that Thomas’s entire history, from her archive to the book, is curated by others, her sister and Gumbs, respectively. I think I need to read the book because Gumbs's explanation of her choices and the poems helped me visualize what she was saying.    

- Lauren Broussard