An Art Exhibit to honor Black Soldiers!
In May, I viewed an exhibit in Deerfield, MA entitled, “Unnamed Figures: Black Presence and Absence in the Early American North.” The exhibit contained many paintings of colonial Americans... some with Black people far in the distance or hidden in the shadows. Our guide explained that Black Americans were rarely pictured nor the focus of paintings because a portrait represented value. Black Americans were more commonly used in those paintings as props representing the wealth of the White enslaver... not as the focus. These paintings sometimes mocked the appearance of Black people, exaggerating their features.
For the past few years, I’ve researched Connecticut's Colored Regiments during the Civil War. In doing so, I've noted the rarity in finding individual images of the men who served, while easily obtaining images of the White officers who led them. As it has been my intent to find current-day descendants, I’ve sometimes had descendants provide me with old family photos of their ancestor who served in the 29th Connecticut Colored Regiment during the Civil War.
To challenge the inequity in value subconsciously disseminated by the lack of representation in photos of the time, the Alex Breanne Corporation has decided to commission a professional artist who will take each individual photo in our collection and create a new piece of portrait art for each.
The artist we’ve commissioned is Connecticut resident, Katiana Jarbath-Smith. She is an African American artist with a wealth of experience and a passion for this history.
We’ve also been graciously provided space in Middletown, CT to hold an art exhibit for presentation of these original pieces! The developer providing us the exhibition space is J.R. Carnegie-Hargreaves. Along with the art will be curated narratives for each individual from the collection of genealogical research performed by the Alex Breanne Corporation. Our plan is to have the exhibition occur in September 2025.
This will be a $20,000 effort, so we will be working to raise funds for its completion. Please consider supporting us. You can do so by donating at https://alexbreanne.org/donate.
Thank you, and God Bless.
- John -
