Ajh Roache showing students a piece
from the Kinsley Collection
Student Government Association hosted the Harlem Renaissance Art Gallery on Thursday in Foster-Tanner for Black out Loud Week.
SGA this event was to bring awareness to the student body about the positive aspect of black history month.
The event started with a tour of the collection and went into a song, followed by a poetry session.
Student organizations came out to participate in the program. Poetry group Voices performed spoken word and Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity sung negro spirituals.
During the tour, students were able to ask questions about the art and share their opinions on what they saw.
Sophomore Senator Soladeen Hamilton, from Tampa, FLa., believes that the turnout for the art gallery could have been a little better and hopes students can get out to become aware of their history.
“Our objective was to get 125 students out tonight to this event but because of all the other events on campus there are only a few students here, I just hope students are able to come out to see all that our culture has to offer,” Hamilton said.
Most of the pieces in the gallery are from the Kinsey Collection.
The Kinsey Collection was started by Bernard Kinsey. He was a Florida A&M University graduate, and Founder of KBK Enterprises, Inc.
Kinsey along with Ajh Roache, a tour guide for Foster Tanner, arranged the artwork and put all the pieces up by hand. Roache believes that Kinsey has a deep connection with the pieces because he was very adamant about where each piece was displayed.
“He is very hands-on with his work because he is so connect and in tune with our culture, usually they ship the art here and we put everything up but Bernard came to hang them up himself because he wants the students to feel the evolution of the art,” Roache said.
Jimia Brown, a first-year biology pre-med student believes this exhibit exposed her to a different side of history.
“This gave me a better look into my University and what it has to offer also change my mindset about slavery to a positive mindset because I was able to see in the art what evolved from the African American culture as a whole instead of the negative focus of slavery,” Brown said.
The gallery will remain open until March 25 from 10a.m.-4p.m. in Foster-Tanner Art Gallery.
For more information about the Harlem Renaissance Art Gallery contact the Department of visual arts, humanities and theatre.