A Critical Conversation: Panels on Racial Equity and Culture
Eugene Contemporary Art is pleased to present two moderated panel discussions as part of its A Critical Conversation programming on Friday, February 19 and Saturday, February 20, 2021, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Co-moderators Beth Robinson-Hartpence and Megan Malone will host panel discussions with selected community members in a conversation that explores questions of racial equity and culture. The panel discussions will be live streamed and offered online with information and access available at eugenecontemporaryart.com prior to the events.
Panel #1 on Friday, February 19, 1:00-2:00 p.m., includes Eric Richardson, Executive Director of Lane County NAACP, along with poet Carter McKenzie and artist Gregory S. Black, both of whom have work included in A Critical Conversation. This panel will examine appropriation in contrast to the possibility of shared meanings, and how the community work and artwork of the panelists supports engaging with questions of racial justice.
Panel #1 YouTube live stream here: https://youtu.be/l8qHPKiwVgs
Panel #2 on Saturday, February 20, 1:00-2:00 p.m., includes A Critical Conversation’s artist William Rutherford and poet and scholar Ana-Maurine Lara, as well as Javier L. Bonnin, Career Instructor in the Department of Architecture School of Architecture and Environment at the University of Oregon. They will discuss space in relation to ownership and shared spaces, reclaiming space, and healing through art after navigating environments that are often violent and aggressive.
Panel #2 YouTube live stream here: https://youtu.be/3Ge5VMvmKPc
Beth Robinson-Hartpence has a master’s degree from the University of Oregon Law School in Conflict and Dispute Resolution, and works as a private practice mediator, facilitator, and conflict/grief coach. She is also a paper conservator and museum technician for the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art in Eugene. Megan E. Malone holds two master’s degrees, one in conflict and dispute resolution and the other in education. She is currently working on getting licensed in social work and works at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health as a learning specialist.
A Critical Conversation is a multi-disciplinary project that focuses on the intersections of art, race and privilege as we experience them here at home and in the culture at large. A Critical Conversation features a group exhibition, in-gallery printmaking performances, moderated panel discussions, and selected poetry presented online at antiaesthetic.com. This project is supported by a Jordan Schnitzer Black Lives Matter Artist Grant and a 2020 Lane Arts Artist Grant.
A Critical Conversation is taking place from January 14 through March 21, 2021. The exhibition is presented at the ANTI-AESTHETIC art space, 245 W 8th Ave, Eugene, dependent on Covid19 safety protocols with information and viewing reservations available online at https://eugenecontemporaryart.com/appointments/.