Hello ARLIS/NA!
Over the past fifty years, the archive has been unpacked, repositioned, and reimagined in contemporary art, literature, theory, and information science. In this conversation we invite two artists, a researcher, and a librarian to explore this very question through the lens of their practice. This event will feature MICA community members Ashley Minner, Deyane Moses, Jennifer A. Ferretti, and Dr. Mel Lewis in conversation. It is sponsored by Decker Library and co-sponsored by the Art History Department, the Humanistic Studies Department, Strategic Initiatives, and The Space for Creative Black Imagination.
Please use this link to find out more information and register for the event. While this event is virtual, Decker Library acknowledges that we live and work on the unceded land of the Piscataway People in Baltimore, Maryland. We ask you to join us in acknowledging the Piscataway community, their elders both past and present, as well as future generations.
Ashley Minner (she/her) is a community based visual artist from Baltimore, Maryland and an enrolled member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. She received her MFA (’11) and MA (’07) in Community Arts, and her BFA (’05) in General Fine Arts from Maryland Institute College of Art. She recently earned her PhD in American Studies from University of Maryland College Park. Ashley works as a professor of the practice and folklorist in the Department of American Studies at University of Maryland Baltimore County, where she also serves as director of the minor in Public Humanities. She especially enjoys spending time with her family, listening to old music, and traveling.
Deyane Moses (she/her) is an artist, activist, and curator. In 2019, she graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art with a BFA in Photography. Her undergraduate thesis The Maryland Institute Black Archives (MIBA) uncovers MICA’s) Black history. The Archives, exhibition “Blackives,” and remembrance “Take Back The Steps” prompted MICA’s President Samuel Hoi to issue a letter in February 2019 apologizing for the Institution’s racist past. The project has created a collective awareness around institutional racism on the campus, Baltimore, and broader art world. Ms. Moses archives the communities around her in an effort to shape visual consciousness. She continues to work on the MIBA in the Curatorial Practice program, in order to become MICA’s Black History Historian.Jennifer A. Ferretti (she/her) is an artist and Digital Initiatives Librarian at the Maryland Institute College of Art. She is a first-generation American Latina/Mestiza whose librarianship is guided by critical perspectives, not neutrality. With a firm belief that art is information, she is interested in the research methodologies of artists and non-Western forms of knowledge making and sharing. Jennifer is a Library Journal 2018 Mover & Shaker and a founding member of We Here and Shades Collective.Dr. Mel Michelle Lewis (they > she) is Chair of Humanistic Studies and Associate Professor of Black/Ethnic Studies & Gender/Sexuality Studies at Maryland Institute College of Art. Their research and teaching cultivates Black queer critical race social justice pedagogies for liberatory art and design education and creative practice. Dr. Mel’s personal, professional, and political commitments are to overlapping and interlocking queer, trans, nonbinary, intersex, and feminist communities of color. Originally from Bayou la Batre, Alabama, their creative work explores queer of color themes in rural coastal settings. Previously, Dr. Mel served as Director of the transdiciplinary Center for Geographies of Justice and Associate Professor of Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies and Africana Studies at Goucher College. Their roles have also included Associate Professor and Director of Ethnic Studies at Saint Mary’s College of California and Interim Executive director of the National Women’s Studies Association. A longtime Baltimore resident, Dr. Mel completed their M.A. and Ph.D. in Women’s Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park in the area of Bodies, Genders, and Sexualities. They hold an M.S. in Women and Gender Studies with a Public Policy concentration from Towson University and a B.A. in Women’s Studies and Sociology from Goucher College.
Heather Slania
Director
Decker Library
1300 W Mount Royal Ave.
Baltimore, MD 21217
Living and working on the unceded land of the Piscataway People in Baltimore, Maryland.
Pronouns in use: she, her, hers
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Decker Library will be closed December 20th-January 19th. Due to furloughs, the library will not be answering any emails or phone calls during this time period.
ARLIS/NA Education Liaison 2020-2022
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