Step into an evening where art and poetry intertwine in a powerful exploration of self-expression, sensuality, and storytelling. Dark & Divine Union invites you to an intimate poetry workshop and artist talk at the McColl Center, featuring CHD:WCK!, Darian Parham, and poet Tammaka Staley.
Guided by curator Dasia Hood, this experience pairs evocative portraits from the Dark & Divine exhibition with poetic prompts that encourage reflection, reclamation, and revelation. Engage with the artists as they discuss their creative journeys, inspirations, and the narratives behind their works.
Guests will also have the opportunity to complete Declaration of My Body, a compelling fill-in-the-blank poem by Tammaka Staley. This poem offers a moment of ancestry within the exhibition’s themes.
Vibes curated by Wild Recluse (exhibition music playlist)
Special spoken word video ft. Jason Dawkins & Dasia Hood
Cash bar & light bites available. Immerse yourself in an evening of art, words, and connection.
About the Exhibition:
The McColl Center presents Dark & Divine, a group exhibition curated by Dasia Hood, featuring artists Dionna Bright, Chad Cartwright, Patrick Sainte, Jerry Taliaferro, Darian Parham, Jason Dawkins, and Ida M. Irby.
Dark & Divine is a bold reawakening of the Black artist’s connection to nudity, exploring its cultural and spiritual significance across the African-American Diaspora. The exhibition challenges the historical distortions imposed by colonization, society, and media that have hypersexualized and desecrated Black nudity, creating a dialogue of shame around sensuality and self-image.
Through collaborative artist-model portraits, mixed media works, and personal storytelling, the featured artists reclaim Black bodies as sacred, powerful, and deserving of reverence. Each work reflects on nudity through spiritual, societal, and personal lenses, using it as a vehicle for self-expression, healing, and a redefinition of beauty.
Dark & Divine centers Black divinity as the perspective for exploring sensuality and nudity, inviting viewers to reconnect with their own bodies and sexuality as vessels of freedom, intimacy, and the divine. This transformative exhibition fosters new conversations about the inherent beauty and sacredness of Black bodies, offering a space for liberation and reverence.
