Celebrating TBP Alumni Featured in Summer Exhibitions

One of the most dedicated missions we have here at TBP is to advance the healing and wellness of Black youth within our programs by teaching them how to use their artistry to tell deeply profound stories of their lived experiences. And while that mission sometimes begins with our organization it certainly does not end there. We celebrate every moment that our Alumni are able to expand their artistic talents within their community and spread awareness to their communities.

In honor of that, we want to take this opportunity to highlight a few of our students who participated in exhibitions over the last couple of months!

This past April our Ekphrasis in Black alumna, Nilaja Brown, exhibited their poetic prowess at the HERVision Exhibition at The Open Door Gallery in Houston, TX. Nilaja’s creative brilliance stemming from their “Fairy Shit” collection, was honored amongst a “curated selection of pieces from 60+ talented female artists spanning various mediums and styles, each telling a unique story, reflecting the richness of a woman’s pov.” 

Nilaja’s “Fairy Shit” poem was previously featured as a part of a zine “Sips of Freedom” released by TBP in 2023 and can be found HERE.

portrait of Nilaja Love Önwa Photography

The Durham Powerful Arts Collective has had an amazing summer of exhibitions and many of our TBP Fam were able to be a part of the storytelling. In collaboration with Art as Method, the Center for Environmental Farming Systems, and the Committee on Racial Equity they curated the UPROOT Exhibition: BIPOC Visions of Our Food System. This community led installation explored the various ways in which “the individual and community experiences in our food systems.” Pieces were displayed at both Northstar Church of the Arts in downtown Durham and Earthseed Land Collective, where art goers were able to come together for a beautiful arrangement of community offerings, concerts, & workshops including a Slow Art Tour by The Art Chose Me featuring the photographic work of our very own Director of Artist Training, Madylin Nixon-Taplet. We were also delighted to see a number of pieces from our former AAYA Education Coordinator Assata Goff and TBP Ekphrasis in Black Alumna, Manzili Kokayi.

Photography by Derek Davis (@esoderek) & David Peña (@pen_yah)

Last, but not least, DurmPac alongside Faith Regain and Pop Box Gallery also hosted Haptic Happenings, a youth-curated exhibition that brought young people (ages 13-24) together to “address the theme of representing personal identity through art.” TBP Fam Assata Goff and Princess “Kimoni” Jackson shared personal, creative pieces that reflected the deep, intrinsic avenues of their selfhood; connecting their artistry to the ways in which they continue to better understand themselves as unique individuals. Princess had this to say about their work, “Most of the meaning of ‘In My Meadows’ for me is embedded in the process. I slowly completed this throughout the depressive episode that started during my last semester of college and followed me until this past January. In the small bursts that I worked on this piece, I learned to embrace my craving for rest, stillness, and softness as a recovering overachiever. It showed me that my lows can’t be rushed through. And the opportunity to be a part of this exhibition showed me that my community will always be there to welcome me when I’m ready to show up again.” This exhibition was on display at the Truist Gallery at the Durham Arts Council.

top photo: our director of artist training, Madylin with Princess 

bottom photo: panel discussion featuring Assata and Princess