"A work of art is above all an adventure of the mind." Eugene Ionesco
Hello blog world and fellow art lovers!!! We have a special treat in store for you. We, the authors of this blog, are a group of public relations (PR) students at Florida A&M University (FAMU) who have been assigned to create a blog in relevance to a class project. Our class project requires us to plan and promote a fictitious event regarding the Kinsey African Art Exhibit. Although, the actual event is fictitious, the people and the art are real. Each week, we will be posting our thoughts, opinions and questions regarding the events being planned.
Description of PR Methods:
Hello blog world and fellow art lovers!!! We have a special treat in store for you. We, the authors of this blog, are a group of public relations (PR) students at Florida A&M University (FAMU) who have been assigned to create a blog in relevance to a class project. Our class project requires us to plan and promote a fictitious event regarding the Kinsey African Art Exhibit. Although, the actual event is fictitious, the people and the art are real. Each week, we will be posting our thoughts, opinions and questions regarding the events being planned.
Description of PR Methods:
The Public Relations Methods course is a writing class and lab. In this class, we learn how to prepare the communication tools that PR professionals use for getting messages to the media to reach targeted publics and audiences. As a project, each student is expected to put together a media kit, create and maintain a blog and construct an online press room to promote the fictitious event we are assigned. Five textbooks are used as learning tools in this course. These books include: The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott, Public Relations Writing: Form and Style (8th Edition) by Doug Newsom and Jim Haynes, Strategic Writing: Multimedia Writing for PR Advertising, Sales and Marketing, and Business Communication by Charles Marsh, David W. Guth and Bonnie Poovey Short, Writing PR: A Multimedia Approach by Meta G. Carstarphen and Richard A. Wells, and The Associated Press Stylebook. We're also required to have a dictionary of our choice!
Meet the Authors:
I am Cecilia S. Aiken, a senior public relations student from the beautiful city of Orlando, Fl. I am planning an event geared toward the Kinsey African Art Exhibit during Parent Weekend at FAMU. During Parent Weekend, parents and guardians are invited to the university to enjoy a short time of relaxation and companionship with their FAMU scholar. This particular year we have a special event planned featuring the Kinsey African Art Exhibit. Bernard and Shirley Kinsey are world renowned private art collectors who have generously selected 97 pieces of African art work for students and parents to educate their mind while observing the featured art work.
Hello, I am Savina Billups, a fourth year Public Relations student from Tampa, Fla. The event I will be planning is a Kinsey Art Exhibit: Valentine's Day Event. The event will be a tribute to Mr. Bernard Kinsey's wife, Shirley Kinsey, of 40 years. The event will also be a fundraiser for one of Mrs. Kinsey's favorite charities, college students with learning disabilities. My event will be an art auction on Valentines day 2010, which will include various works of art, by African American artists, displaying images of love . The special guests speakers will be Bernard and Shirley Kinsey.
I am Travis Francis, a senior Public Relations student from Palm Beach, Fl. The event that I will be planning is the Kinsey Art Exhibit: Opening Event. Bernard and Shirley Kinsey, graduates of FAMU, are bringing 97 pieces from their private collection to the Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science in Tallahassee, Fl. Opening day for the exhibit will be Friday, Sept. 11, 2009 with a meet-and-greet with the Kinsey's taking place from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. There will also be a special live performance from legendary jazz legend B.B. King.
Greetings! I am Joy Williams, a fourth year public relations student from Tallahassee, Fl. The special event that I am planning is a gala to kickoff FAMU's homecoming week. The gala will be entitled "Embracing Our Culture: Home is Where the Art Is". This event is geared toward bringing in art lovers and people who appreciate the African American culture to view a traveling exhibit presented by Bernard and Shirley Kinsey. The Kinseys are both alumni of FAMU and are excited about sharing their private art collection with their alma matter and the African American community in Tallahassee. Anyone who is an alumni, student, faculty or plays any role in the FAMU community knows that FAMU homecoming is one of the biggest celebrations in and around Tallahassee, FL. For this reason, the gala will serve as a celebration of the exhibit and homecoming. The event will take place Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009 at the Mary Brogan Museum.
For all the art lovers...
We would like to ask you this: Do you think that African American art is an exact representation of the African American culture?...Or do you think it's exaggerated?
(Artist is unknown)
Your blog site looks great. This is a good way to start. I am an art lover and have been since I was a teenager...particularly African American art but also other artists outside of the genre such as Matisse and Picasso. The artwork you have posted is very nice. Who is the artist?
ReplyDeleteYour question regarding African American art is a bit presumptuous. Art created by African Americans cannot be either/or. Some of it is reflective of our culture, but that doesn't make the rest of it overrated and exaggerated. I think you will find the art included in the Kinsey collection is mostly reflective of our culture.
Think about the question you are asking.
Personally, I am not into art like this, but when I see pieces, usually it is a representation of our culture. Most times it is exaggerated to make a point.
ReplyDeleteThank you Prof. Kinchlow and ng for your comments!
ReplyDeleteThe question was not meant to be presumptuous. Another picture posting had uploaded above. It is a picture of a piggy bank.
The piggy bank seems a bit degrading to me. The man is not very attractive, and he reminds me of when white men used to paint their faces. When white men did that, it wasn't to portray black men in a good way. It was to make a mockery of them.
What is your interpretation of the piggy bank?
I think that some African American Art is exaggerated due to the fact that it distorts some very common facial features of people in my race. Althogh, some paintings and drawings are very accurate. As, far as the piggy bank I do believe that the image shown is very distorted. I feel a offended that someone would make an image so unbecoming.
ReplyDeleteYeah...I agree some of the art is very distorted. It almost makes me feel as if it's taking away from the beauty of the african american culture, but there is that saying that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Maybe the artist felt it was beautiful.
ReplyDeletei think most art is exaggerated, iincluding African-American art
ReplyDeleteBlog Team #1:
ReplyDeleteThe photograph you have attached to this blog post is not considered art. It is an artifact that depicts a time in US history when blacks were caricatured in blackface, large red lips, an so on.
The piggy bank is one of many regular, every day household items that whites created and used in their homes that were an insult to blacks. The psychological damage of seeing your race depicted in such unflattering and degrading ways continues to wreak havoc on blacks today. We struggle to find beauty in things that are natural to our race and culture.
Don't confuse historical artifacts with art.
The Kinsey collection is an art collection of african american artifacts. Sheryl and Bernard Kinsey do an excellent job at highlighting their travels throughout their life with art. It is interesting to know that they involved their son in their travels.
ReplyDeleteSome of the most interesting pieces in the collection would have to be the various poems from the slave girls. It was just interesting to know how the chronicled many interactions that they had. It was also very shocking to see the numbers of slaves in the west florida area.
Honestly, when viewing this I felt like I saw the richness of African American history. I didn't know that we as people did so much! I also liked the segment that talked about the slaves that were in the Revolutionary War. That is something that is not talked about during your typical black history month. I especially liked the 9th Calvary Buffalo Soldier Parade Flag.
The Kinsey collection did a great job at providing insight to the past through a rare form, art. It was interesting to know that this history was important enough to care about.