Description

The Project:
The Meek-Eaton Black Archives (MEBA) seeks funding to support an exhibition of 45 works on paper by the important 20th-century artist Thorton Dial that were gifted to the MEBA Museum in 2005.  The exhibition is part of a new effort by the museum to present art exhibitions that will engage both FAMU students and a local community that have little if any access to African American art.  The MEBA has operated a space in the historic Union Bank building since 1996, and in 2016 a decision was made to dedicate the space to the presentation of art exhibitions.  Preparation of the Thornton Dial exhibition will engage student in six courses across the humanities curriculum. Led by the staff of MEBA’s Center for Social and Political Justice, the group will study, discuss, and write about the works in order to produce a small catalogue for the exhibition, content for gallery kiosks, and a short documentary film. The exhibition will take place from October of 2019 to March of 2020, and will be accessible to students and the public for at least 20 hours per week.  Programs, including K-12 teacher training, will be offered to expand and enhance the experience of the exhibition for the widest possible audience. 
Rationale for Funding:
MEBA’s Thornton Dial project is part of an effort to make arts programming and museum training a more prominent feature of the MEBA’s ongoing work.  The effort is led by MEBA’s new director, Nashid Madyun, who was formerly director of the Hampton University Museum.  The Dial gift was an important one for MEBA’s museum, and the exhibition project offers an opportunity to raise the profile of and engagement in the art program, on campus and in the local community.  In the contents of selected courses, students will probe the nature and meaning of the art, and learn aspects of museum practice in the process of creating the presentation.  Funding for this project comes at a crucial time in that it will support the launch of a more concerted art and museum focus in the context of the rapidly expanding archival collections program.