March 3 - April 18, 2021

Photo of a digital artwork featuring a stylized abstract figure surrounded by hand-painted text. The background has patches of pale blue, pink, yellow, and gray. The figure seems to throw their hands up with an anguished facial expression.
Paul Jackson (Class of 2022). 27club. Digital artwork.

The Mead is proud to support the fourth installment of the Black Art Matters Festival in partnership with the Black Student Union, Amherst College Multicultural Resource Center, and the Arts at Amherst Initiative. The Black Art Matters Festival is an affirmation and celebration of Black student artists and creators.

Zoe Akoto '21 created the Black Art Matters Festival in 2018 when she noticed that the creative work of Black students was rarely seen on campus. She designed this program to highlight work by those artists. Before COVID-19, we gathered in person to look at visual art and enjoy dance, music, and spoken word performances in the galleries of the Mead Art Museum. 

This year, though the Black Art Matters Festival takes place virtually via Zoom, the Mead is pleased to present a selection of visual artworks created by Black student artists at Amherst College. The works on view in the Rotherwas Room were submitted by students who are currently based on campus. Additional artworks can be viewed online at amherst.edu/mead.

You can experience the entire slate of visual artworks and performances at the Black Art Matters Festival on Thursday, March 4, 2021, from 7–9 pm EST via Zoom. Click to register and gain access to the Zoom link. If you’re unable to attend in real-time, check this page following the event to watch the recording.

Participants in this year’s festival are Ashanti Adams ’24, Rebecca Awuah ’23, Lauren Bell ’22, Zora Duncan ’23, Isabelle Geneve ’23, Michael Gibson Jr. ’21, Kendall Greene ’24, DeLyna Hadgu ’21, Paul Jackson ’22, Sterling Kee ’23, Jonathan Paul ’22, Danielle Reed ’21, Maya Roberts ’23, and Abadai Zoboi ’24.