Held on the occasion of the exhibition Sargent Claude Johnson and a new commission Betye Saar: Drifting Toward Twilight, this two-day conference will explore important Black histories across the visual and performing arts.
Topics in this conference will address Black artists in the Bay Area, centered around the life and work of Sargent Johnson, and in Southern California, especially the artistic community that developed in nearby Pasadena, as well as California’s key position along the Pacific Rim. With talks by academics and artists, performances of music from the archives by Black composers Harold Bruce Forsythe and William Grant Still, and tours of the exhibitions, this two-day conference will celebrate Black creativity in California’s past, present, and future.
