Black History Month: Young, Gifted, And Black Exhibition Turns Conversation About Race Into Works Of Art
BETHLEHEM, Pa. (CBS) -- We're celebrating Black History Month here at CBS3 by introducing you to local unsung heroes. They're people whose influence is making a difference in the community. Today, that influence starts with turning conversations about race into works of art.
"It's not just about traditional artmaking practices that we've learned through the history of art. They're essentially rewriting art history through their work," Bernard Lumpkin said.
Young, Gifted, and Black is an art exhibition that just debuted at Lehigh University. It's a celebration of African American artists and the many mediums they use to inspire and ignite emotion in all.
All of the works are from the personal collection of art collector and patron Lumpkin.
Each piece is meant to reflect some of the last conversations that Lumpkin had with his father about growing up Black in America.
"It was conversations about race, about family, about America, about the past and also about the present," Lumpkin said. "And those conversations with my father directly shaped the conversations that are happening in the exhibition Young, Gifted, and Black. From an earlier age, my father wanted to be a scientist. You can imagine being a Black boy growing up in the ghetto that there were not many opportunities to pursue science.
"When he was a teenager, he built a telescope from scratch," Lumpkin added, "and for me, that's an example of not only perseverance, purpose but also creativity. It made me realize that, what these artists are doing in this exhibition, they are in a sense are building their own telescopes. They are showing us a future that we can't even see yet."
Lumpkin hopes visitors to the exhibit come away with a deeper understanding of being Black in America.
"I hope that people take away a deeper understanding of themselves and the world, and a deeper understanding of people of color and artists of African descent and their role in teaching us and showing us the world that we lived in, the past, our world today, the present, and also give us a vision -- answer some questions about the future," he said. "These artists are showing us what the future can be."
The exhibition is on display until May 1.