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Message UnityFirstJ U N E 2 0 2 5Another look: The art of Amy Sherald
We must remember it’s not myAmerica or your America. It’sour America." Welcome to UnityFirst.com’s snapshot ofstories that encourage us to reflect, reimagine,and think about what’s happened, what’s next,and what needs to be. We encourage you to share your news andstories with UnityFirst.com for upcoming issues.Additionally, we would like to meet you andlearn about your initiatives, businesses,activities, and opportunities. Most of all, welook forward to hearing your voices andexploring national and regional news thatreaders can appreciate.Submit your news to UnityFirst.com, a digitalnews platform to connect people, ideas, andinformation.Please get in touch with us:Please contact us:Janine FondonNational Editorjfondon@unityfirst.com(413) 221-7931Welcome— Michelle Obama, Former First Lady of theUnited States, Attorney, and AuthorIn honor of Juneteenth and all days spent inpursuit of freedom, UnityFirst.com sharesthe following quotes of inspiration,introspection, and insight : “I am no longer accepting the things Icannot change. I am changing the things Icannot accept.” — Angela Davis“We must be free not because we claimfreedom, but because we practice it.” ― William Faulkner“For to be free is not merely to cast offone’s chains, but to live in a way thatrespects and enhances the freedom ofothers.” ― Nelson Mandela
Amy Sherald: American Sublime Exhibit at TheWhitney ( NYC) Until August 10, 2025New York’s Whitney Museum of American Art nowhosts Amy Sherald’s exhibit, “American Sublime,”the artist’s debut solo exhibition at a New Yorkmuseum and the most comprehensive showing of herwork to date.This exhibition explores Amy Sherald’s profoundimpact on contemporary art and culture, featuringnearly fifty paintings spanning her career from 2007to the present and situating Sherald within the arthistorical tradition of American realism andfiguration. American Sublime will run until August10, 2025.American Sublime explores the work of one of themost preeminent artists of our time. Arrangedchronologically, the exhibition begins with Amy Sherald’s poetic early portraits and leads into thedistinct and striking figure paintings for which sheis best known. The exhibition features early worksthat have been previously unseen or rarely seen bythe public, as well as new pieces created specificallyfor the exhibition. It also showcases iconic portraits of First LadyMichelle Obama and Breonna Taylor—two of themost recognizable and significant paintings by anAmerican artist in recent years. Sherald situates her work within the lineage ofAmerican realism and portraiture alongside artistssuch as Robert Henri, Edward Hopper, Alice Neel,and Andrew Wyeth—all of whom are representedin the Whitney Museum’s collection.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIQNtqfLT-4&t=1s
In New York:The MetropolitanMuseum of Art reopensnewly reimaginedgalleries dedicated to thearts of Africa, the AncientAmericas, and OceaniaThe Michael C. Rockefeller WingNow open! Discover The Met’snew Michael C. RockefellerWing, featuring the Museum’scollections of the Arts ofAfrica, the Ancient Americas,and Oceania.
The The Metropolitan Museum of Art reopenedThe Michael C. Rockefeller Wing following thecompletion of a major renovation. The wingfeatures collections in the Arts of Africa, theAncient Americas, and Oceania galleries,encompassing over 1,800 works that span fivecontinents and hundreds of cultures. These threemajor world traditions stand as independententities in a wing that is in dialogue withneighboring gallery spaces. Alisa LaGamma, Ceil and Michael E. PulitzerCurator of African Art and Curator in Charge ofThe Michael C. Rockefeller Wing. Born inLubumbashi, the Democratic Republic of theCongo, Alisa LaGamma spent her formative yearsin sub-Saharan Africa. Graduate studies in Africanart history at Columbia University led her toundertake research in southern Gabon on the livingtradition of Punu masks, which culminated in her1995 dissertation, “The Art of the Punu MukudjMasquerade: Portrait of an Equatorial Society.” Acurator at the Metropolitan since 1996, herexhibition projects, devoted to topics ranging fromauthorship to portraiture, have sought to anchorAfrican art both historically and conceptually. LaGamma said: “The primary goal of thisconsiderable institutional project is todeepen appreciation for the greatness of the artdisplayed within. While the creation of the wingasserted the place of the arts of sub-Saharan Africa,the ancient Americas, and Oceania in theworld’s leading museum, the new editionunderscores their autonomy from one another andforegrounds the artists responsible for thoseachievements. The new galleries devoted to threemajor collections presented in The Michael C.Rockefeller Wing allow us to reintroduce them to the public enriched with a wealth of contextualdetail. Those layers of information range fromartist bios to interviews with experts in the regionthat relate the works presented to specifichistorical sites in the form of audio guidecommentary and documentary films produced asan integral part of the experience.”
The reimagined Arts of Oceania galleries reintroduceThe Met’s iconic collection of Oceanic art, presentingover 500 years of art from this expansive region, newlyframed by Indigenous perspectives and celebrating theunceasing creativity of Oceania’s finest visual artists.These include monumental artworks from the largeisland of New Guinea and the coastal archipelagos thatstretch beyond its shores to the north, central, andeastern Pacific, as well as the two neighboring regions ofAustralia and Island Southeast Asia, whose Indigenouscommunities all share a common ancestry. Shown below is a body mask from the Oceanic exhibit.Shown left is a sculpture from the Ancient Americasgalleries.The reenvisioned installation in the Arts of Africagalleries reintroduces visitors to The Met’scollection of sub-Saharan African art through aselection of some 500 works organized to surveymajor artistic movements and living traditions fromacross the subcontinent. The new galleriespresent original creations spanning from theMiddle Ages to the present.The reinstallation in the Arts of the AncientAmericas galleries is organized around some 700works selected to foreground the artistic legacy ofIndigenous artists from across North, Central,and South America and the Caribbean before 1600CE. This extraordinary collection is reintroduced for anew generation of visitors, reflecting contemporaryscholarship and research and providing greaterillumination of the ancestral arts of Latin Americaand the Caribbean. The new galleries featuremonumental stone sculptures, exquisite metalwork,and refined ceramic vessels, as well as shimmeringregalia crafted from gold, shell, and semipreciousstones and delicate wooden sculptures.
100 years of The Schomburg Center forResearch in Black Culture Founded at the peakof the HarlemRenaissance, theSchomburg Centerwill utilize its vastcollections androbust programmingto honor its legacy asa place where historyand culture arecollected, shared,and made.100 Years of the Schomburg CenterThis year, the Schomburg Center forResearch in Black Culture is celebrating the100th anniversary of its founding! Anational landmark and world-renownedresearch center located in the heart ofHarlem, the Schomburg Center stewards acollection of 11 million items and isdedicated to the collection, preservation,and exhibition of Black history and culture.This year, the Schomburg will celebrate itsmilestone and continue the legacy of ArturoSchomburg.In 1925, The New York PublicLibrary opened the Division of NegroLiterature, History, and Prints—theforerunner to today’s SchomburgCenter—as a special collection of the135th Street Library. The divisionexpanded significantly the followingyear with the acquisition of thepersonal collection of Arturo AlfonsoSchomburg, the distinguished PuertoRican scholar and bibliophile.Schomburg had spent decadescollecting books, manuscripts, and artthat illustrated Black contributions toglobal history.Today’s Schomburg Center is one ofthe world’s leading culturalinstitutions devoted to thepreservation and study of materialsfocused on African American, AfricanDiasporic, and African experiences.
Greeks & Grapes: A Napa Affair, a four-day luxury cultural celebration that's redefining NapaValley's wine scene with the addition of powerhouse performances from Jagged Edge, YolandaAdams, Finesse Mitchell, and Tacarra Williams, to a stellar lineup of previously announcedjuggernauts including George Clinton, Yvonne Orji, Nephew Tommy and many more. The event, setfor August 7–10, 2025, at The Meritage Resort and Spa, promises a first-of-its-kind fusion of Blackexcellence, music, comedy, wine, and curated indulgence.
Located inWilliamsburg,Virginia, The Collegeof William & Mary isa public researchuniversity. It wasfounded in 1693 undera royal charter issuedby King William IIIand Queen Mary II.Also, it is the second-oldest institution ofhigher learning in theUnited States, and theninth-oldest in theEnglish-speakingworld. Digging Backwards Through HistoryLights the Way ForwardBeneath William & Mary's Robert M. Gates Hall, archaeologiststhis summer uncovered a remarkable find: the near-complete 18th-century foundation of the Williamsburg Bray School. The BraySchool, one of the oldest known institutions in North Americadedicated to the education of enslaved and free Black children,operated on the site from 1760 to 1765. Its foundations werethought to be only partially intact.Researchers also discovered a previously undocumented cellarlayered with centuries of artifacts. The discoveries provide a newportal into the site's past, offering a more comprehensive story ofthe Williamsburg Bray School, its scholars, and their impact. "Asthe United States prepares to mark its 250th anniversary, William& Mary is embracing its role as a steward of the nation's originstories – and as a catalyst for their expansion," said W&MPresident Katherine A. Rowe.Rowe added, "The roots of our city and university entwine here.Every layer of history that it reveals gives us new insights into ourearly republic, from the Williamsburg Bray School through thegenerations that followed, up through the early 20th century."
“We have simply gotto make peopleaware that none ofus are free untilwe’re all free.” — Opal Lee“My humanity isbound up in yours,for we can only behuman together.” — Desmond TutuSubmit your news to UnityFirst.com, a digital newsplatform to connect people, ideas, and information.Send info to jfondon@unityfirst.com or subscribe here.We want to hear from you:Return to first pageInspire