The Honorable Peggy Magee lecture at PGAAMCC
If you missed the Peggy Magee lecture you missed a real treat! She spoke about how strength and honor and being able to stand up to any challenge has propelled her to success. As a single mom, she had a successful career in the military, as a state’s attorney, as Clerk of the Circuit Court, a Director in county government, and now in private industry as an adjunct Professor and as the Director of Community Relations at Collington. Her story inspired me as well as others.
Ms. Magee attributed much of her ability and steadfastness to her service in the military. She learned how to stand to any challenge and do it with dignity and honor but prior to the military it was clear that her strength was instilled in her by her very strong and capable mother. She had a mother who accepted no boundaries to affording her children the best education and she worked extremely hard as a domestic to accomplish this task. Ms. Magee described her childhood as one of few means, however she treasured such memories as being able to eat tea cakes and drink milk while sitting on the front porch swing in Biloxi, Mississippi.
The military helped Ms. Magee afford her education, both a Bachelor of Science as well as her Juris Doctorate. She served as the First Sergeant for Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base during the Presidency of George Bush and Bill Clinton. She is a well respected leader among her colleagues and peers as well as the Prince George’s County community.
An Homage to African American in the Military Art Workshop
Through collage and photography, workshop participants, paid homage to the many contributions of African American Women who served in the U.S. Military during WWII. The collage consisted of wood, photos, aged U.S. stamps...etc. This project was fun, relaxing, and beautiful when completed.
Chanel Compton Community & Youth Education Coordinator
Howard Unversity’s Upward Bound program Docent Tour—FANSTASTIC!!
Thursday morning, ninety-five high school students enrolled in Howard University's Upward Bound Program, visted our museum. It was amazing! Students were moved by the many stories of African Americans who served in the military throughout US history; it was truly a memorable experience!
"It was great! Our students really enjoyed themselves !" said Sabrina Johnson, Counselor for Upward Bound At Howard University
Independence Day Celebration—just AMAZING!!
Independence Day Celebration was AMAZING!!! Saturday, July 9th, local residents and youth groups experienced docent led tours, arts and crafts, and painted a mural commemorating Tuskegee Airmen. The day was exciting, fun, and educational.
“The Exhibit was an excellent educational experience for youth. It’s great exposure for youth of all ages; allowing them to stretch their minds educationally and creatively. We would definitely do this again!” Lloyd Cornish Southview Recreation Coordinator
Chanel Compton Community & Youth Education Coordinator Prince George's African American Museum & Cultural Center T: 301-209-0592 F: 301-209-0594 www.pgaamcc.org
Resonant Forms and Women’s History Month Programs
I want to draw them in. How do you bring in magic and energy into an urban encounter? By elevating consciousness.
–Martha Jackson-Jarvis
On March 19, in celebration of International Women’s History Month, 60+ art enthusiasts, collectors, artists and community folks gathered at the Gateway Arts Center to meet mixed media/ installation artist Martha Jackson-Jarvis for a lively discussion about her past and present work---specifically her current installation project, Message in a Bottle/Scent of Magnolia. This work is featured in the current PGAAMCC and Brentwood Arts Exchange collaborative exhibition, Resonant Forms: Artwork by Alonzo Davis, Martha-Jackson Jarvis, and Frank Smith.
Message in a Bottle/Scent of Magnolia is a sculpture installation project that explores the meaning of courage and necessity as it relates to the cultural environment and landscape environment. It combines disparate materials of stone, concrete, glass, and aluminum in a visual narrative that uses southern landscapes as a metaphor for change, loss, and reclamation of natural history, cultural history, and environmental history. Martha has jettisoned this current body of work into an ongoing project. To learn more visit http://bit.ly/mjj-message. Jarvis was joined by artist/curator/art Journalist A.M. Weaver, a major voice shaping the discourse and dissemination of information on visual artists of color and women artists. She is currently a consultant for the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and works as an art journalist for publications such as Art South Africa, African Arts, Photo Review, Sculpture Magazine, Art Review/London, and Fiberarts.
Jarvis and Weaver captivated the audience with a soulful and interpretive exploration of Martha’s 30+ years of work. Images were presented featuring the many mediums of her evolution as an artist--- from her childhood in Virginia, where she began sculpting mud, to her subsequent rise as an international artist who now installs large scale permanent work throughout the US and worldwide.
Particularly resonant was Jarvis’s statement that art is as integral to life as the air we breathe and is often compelled by cultural and spiritual influences combined with nature’s expansionary continuum. Her vision and output exemplifies how the alchemy of art, environment, and community inclusivity leads to a fuller realization of the worlds we create and live in: “My current work explores issues of conservation and our relationship to natural materials and landscapes. I draw uncommon analogies between disparate forms, disparate objects and disparate materials to construct a narrative of real and imagined landscapes. My memory and enchantment with nature spring from my encounters in the southern landscape in childhood. I am interested in forces that bind inanimate and animate objects in a matrix of living interdependent forces that influence life and our place on Earth. I explore the energy in materials, their emanating auras, textures, and sources of power. Elements of impermanence and enduring cycles of change are revealed.”
If you haven’t already done so, come see Message in a Bottle/Scent of Magnolia, as part of the Resonant Forms exhibition on view through April 9, at PGAAMCC’s Gallery 110 and the Brentwood Arts Exchange gallery located at the Gateway Arts Center, 3901 Rhode Island Avenue, Brentwood, MD 20722.
By Tonya Jordan PGAAMCC, Community Engagement Manager March 23, 2011
“Enlisted: Five Generations of African Americans From The U.S. Armed Services”
Watch a preview of 'Enlisted: A conversation with Five Generations of African Americans From The U.S. Armed Services". This inspiring video will featured as apart of our current exhibition: 'Coming Home: How the African American Experience During World War II Shaped the Culture of Prince George's County.' This exhibition ran from Saturday, May 14th through September 1st, 2011.
Click here to watch more videos from our 'Enlisted' series.
Vintage Visions Veterans Day Program
On Thursday, November 11, 2010 the Prince George's African American Museum and Cultural Center organized a public program in recognition of the servicemen and women from our community. The event included a conversation with active duty servicemen and veterans, including Melvin Cooper, President -- Society for the Preservation of Black Aviation History, Inc., and William Broadwater, Tuskegee Airman (US Army, WWII). The program was also highlighted by a screening of the film 'The Tuskegee Airmen' (1995). In attendance were Curator Jon West-Bey (who also served as moderator of the panel discussion), and Board Chair Hon. Lillian K. Beverley. For more information on the program itself, please visit our Vintage Visions exhibitions page.
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Welcome to the Museum Blog!
Hello all, and welcome to the Prince George’s African American Museum and Cultural Center’s brand new website and blog! We’re very excited to unveil our (online) face to the world!
In our inaugural year, we’ve already accomplished an extraordinary amount. Our new gallery space at the Gateway Arts Center has been home to three professional exhibitions and a host of community events and public programs. We’ve dedicated the future site of the museum in North Brentwood, a project that, when completed, will become the centerpiece of the Gateway Arts District. And now, we’ve launched out PGAAMCC.org to further our ability to educate and inspire our community around the clock. It’s an exciting time for the museum, and we’re thrilled to share it with all of you.
What can you expect at the Museum Blog? We’ll present you with in-depth profiles of the work on display at Gallery 110. You’ll see artist interviews, read current local and national arts news, and be exposed to the latest trends in the museum field. You’ll hear from our energetic (and small) staff to learn what it’s really like on the ground floor of the museum world. Above all, this blog will give you, the reader, a deeper perspective on the work we present – before, during, and after your physical visit to our exhibitions.
The purpose of this blog is to open a continuous forum for dialogue and exchange between the museum and our community. We invite you to engage with us on whatever level you feel comfortable – through our website and blog, on Facebook, through our diverse slate of public programs and events, or by visiting our exhibitions in person at Gallery 110. We hope to see you all soon!
The Museum Team