Written by Tanya Terry
The SOLHOT 60+ Exhibition at the FIA Art School Gallery takes place from 5-7 p.m. on Friday, March 6 at the Flint Institute of Arts Museum & Art School. The event’s theme is ‘Shaping Community & Shifting Narrative’, and the opening reception will begin in the FIA auditorium.
SOLHOT stands for Saving Our Lives, Hear Our Truths.
All the artists for the exciting exhibition are women of African descent ages 60 or over.
Dr. Gwen Taylor explained to the Courier that one of the reasons this population was selected was it represents a group that has been underserved. However, she added the group’s mission is to be much broader than its particular demographic.
“If we can get it right for women of African descent ages 60 or over, we can get it right for the rest of the population,” Taylor said.
Taylor stressed the event is open to the public at no cost. She also stated she would like to see the auditorium packed.
“Any art should be open to the public or to the community,” she added. “Art is not passive, and especially art that represents diverse communities. There are always stories that drive that understanding. There is always a story behind that – because art is part of the culture. More and more what we’re trying to get people to understand, especially with the art we make at SOLHOT 60+ and with this group of artists is journey – journey and narrative. That only takes place within the context of community.
“So, it’s an exchange around building understanding around community, and the art that is represented by the narrative that’s shared.”
The art featured at the exhibition will be diverse, ranging from ceramics, to painting, to glass, to collage and more.
The artists also represent three communities: the Lansing community, the Flint community and the Detroit community. The works represent 12 artists.
“We had a homebound artists as one of our artist who passed away in the late part of the summer. Her art will be there also. When you look at the alphabetized listing of artists, she will appear as the first artist. Her name is Ernestine Bains, and she was a fiber and textile artist. Her narrative and her sharing with community will be represented by her granddaughter, Camille Baines.”
Taylor explained that Bains’ granddaughter spells her last name differently because when Ernestine Bains’ birth was recorded, it was incorrectly recorded.
“So, she wound up never changing it. The entire Baines’ family is B-a-i-n-e-s. Ernestine is the only one who spells hers B-a-i-n-s. It’s an interesting bit of trivia, but it also is a historical mark of distinction we give her.”
“This isn’t just Camille representing her grandmother, though. Her grandmother, over the course of this child’s lifetime, deliberately taught her that everything that she as a fiber artist could do, this granddaughter could do.
“…from weaving to Black doll making, this granddaughter can do it all! She’s been introduced to everything by her grandmother. And that’s the intergenerational piece that’s also a part of this initiative.”
According to Taylor, SOLHOT is not just about art and art making.
“The essence of the program is looking at healthy aging through the lens of creativity. So, it’s the creativity that manifests itself into art making. It’s a lot more than the art you see. It’s the wellness journey, and how to age in a healthy manner as a woman of African American descent.”
“And my belief is if we can do deep enough study and remove some of the narrow ways of thinking of Black, versus white, versus, y’know. If one does not put us in these silos of thinking that’s just for Black women, or: ‘Is this an exception?’ or ‘Is this about DEI?’ It’s none of those. If you can understand and look at journey and resilience and look at how historically women of African descent around the diaspora have aged, we get it right for the human race.
“So, this is not a narrow exception. This is a very large inclusion.”
The Flint Institute of Arts is located at 1120 Kearsley Street, in Flint. The museum’s phone number is 810-237-1695.
