This virtual panel is hosted by the National Nordic Museum, in partnership with the Henry Art Gallery.
On the occasions of
M(other) Tongues: Bodhild and Las Hermanas Iglesias, presented by the National Nordic Museum, and
Packaged Black: Derrick Adams and Barbara Earl Thomas, presented by the Henry Art Gallery, we bring together artists Janelle Iglesias, Lisa Iglesias, Barbara Earl Thomas, and Derrick Adams for an artist panel focusing on their experiences with artistic collaboration.
Both exhibitions highlight community interchange and collective processes:
M(other Tongues) through a cross-medium, visual conversation between Iglesias family members, with collaborative and accretive works that suggest an ongoing dialogue; and
Packaged Black through a multi-media installation developed as a shared dialogue between Adams and Thomas about representation, Black identity, and practices of cultural resistance rooted in both self-fashioning and community mythmaking.
Please join us as we consider the generative impact of artistic collaboration in both of these contexts, as well as see what additional insights develop through this cross-exhibition reflection. 4Culture Heritage Program Director Chieko Phillips will provide moderation and guide the conversation.
ABOUT THE PANELISTS
Derrick Adams earned his BFA from Pratt Institute and MFA from Columbia University. He has completed residencies at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Madison and Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program, New York. He is a recipient of a Gordon Parks Foundation Fellowship, Joyce Alexander Wein Artist Prize, and Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award. Adams has held solo exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver; Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg; and Museum of Arts and Design, New York, among other institutions. He has participated in numerous group exhibitions, including at the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem; National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Cincinnati; and Studio Museum in Harlem, New York. His work is held in the notable collections of the Birmingham Museum of Art; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. He recently established The Last Resort, an artist program and residency in Baltimore.
Barbara Earl Thomas earned her BA and MFA from the University of Washington. She has been the recipient of the Howard S. Wright Award, Stranger Genius Award, Mayor’s Arts Award, and Hauberg Fellowship. Thomas has completed residencies at the Pilchuck School of Glass, Stanwood; Museum of Glass, Tacoma; and Goathead Press, Tieton. She has held solo exhibitions at the Evansville Museum of Arts and Science; Seattle Art Museum; Bainbridge Island Art Museum; and Whatcom Museum of History and Art, Bellingham. Thomas has participated in numerous group exhibitions, including at the Bellevue Arts Museum; Northwest African American Museum, Seattle; and Savannah College of Art and Design Museum of Art. Her work is included in the public collections of the Portland Art Museum, Seattle Art Museum, and Tacoma Art Museum.
Janelle Iglesias received her MFA in Sculpture from Virginia Commonwealth University and is an Assistant Professor of Studio Art at the University of California San Diego. She works on site-responsive projects in a variety of contexts. Her work is invested in the metaphors, history, and agency of objects/materials and their physical language in space. An alumna of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, her work has been supported by the Joan Mitchell Foundation, the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, and the Jerome Foundation- through which Janelle conducted research on bowerbirds in the rainforests of West Papua. Bodhild, Lisa and Janelle’s collective projects have been featured at the Textile Arts Center, New York; Ortega y Gasset, Brooklyn; BRIC, Brooklyn; and New Mexico State Art Museum among others.
Lisa Iglesias received her MFA from the University of Florida and is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Art at Mount Holyoke College. Her work explores expansive histories and potentials of drawing and painting, takes into consideration the translation of patterns, images and gestures across materials, and is deeply affected by her role as a mother. Her work has been supported by NYFA and residencies at the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center and the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, among others. Lisa divides her time between Western Mass and Queens. Bodhild, Lisa and Janelle’s collective projects have been featured at the Textile Arts Center, Ortega y Gasset, BRIC, and New Mexico State Art Museum among others.
Chieko Phillips is the Heritage Program Director at 4Culture where she supports organizations and practitioners who preserve, interpret, and share the history, heritage, and material culture of King County, Washington. Phillips started her career at the Northwest African American Museum where the value and practice of community co-creation was permanently ingrained as part of her professional DNA. She has also worked with exhibitions and programming at the United Negro College Fund and Photographic Center Northwest and she served briefly as the executive director of BlackPast, an online resource for African American and global African history. She completed her BA in History from Davidson College and her MA in Museology from the University of Washington.