Mellon Indigenous Arts Program

Join the McGuffey Arts Center for a free, collaborative performance featuring McGuffey resident Lillie Williams with Chihamba, and Black Power Station artists Xolile (‘X’) Madinda and Andiswa (‘Bliss’) Rabeshu, who are visiting from Makhanda, South Africa.

The performance is related to McGuffey's February 2020 exhibition, Arts Beyond the Streets, a collaboration of painting, music, dance, and mixed media between members of the Black Power Station in Makhanda South Africa and members of McGuffey Art Center. Arts Beyond the Streets grew from long-standing relationships between artists in Charlottesville, Virginia and Makhanda, South Africa. In a celebration of arts and inclusiveness, several artist-activists will be traveling from Makhanda, South Africa to collaborate with Charlottesville artists and cultural groups on a series of events during the month of February: free art activities, workshops, and dialogues welcome to all community residents. The McGuffey Art Center is hosting an exhibition of work from professional artists and youth from the Makhanda community.

From the McGuffey web site: "The main purpose of Arts Beyond the Streets is to foster collaborations and build solidarity between artists and art centers that are deeply embedded in their own respective communities. Although they are more than 8,000 miles apart, both Charlottesville and Makhanda have racialized histories by which systemic oppression disadvantaged persons of color through racist ideologies and movements. Artistic collaboration within and across cultures is extremely valuable in the process of healing and generating further change. Arts Beyond the Streets promotes art programming that is accessible to all, so that it can be used as a form of communication between people of all different walks of life.

The Black Power Station is a pioneering arts space within the re-emerging industrial area of Makhanda, South Africa. It is a liberated space where everyone contributes to its taking shape. It is a free and open space where people can come year-round to enjoy and participate in dialogue and other various forms of artistic expression. The Black Power Station seeks to be an alternative venue that facilitates arts to its fullest."

Read more about the artists and event here.

Join Henry Skerritt, Curator of Indigenous Arts of Australia (Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection), for lunch and a talk about Second Street Gallery's exhibition By the Strength of Their Skin, which features the works of three senior and highly regarded female Aboriginal artists, Noŋgirrŋa Marawili, Mabel Juli, and Regina Pilawuk Wilson. More information about the artists and exhibition here.   

Lunch and talk will take place at Second Street Gallery. $25 per person, $20 for members of SSG. RSVP to Lou Haney at lou@secondstreetgallery.org by February 26.

The Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection presents Brian Robinson: tithuyil (moving with the rhythm of the stars), a selection of prints and sculptural works by Brian Robinson. The graphic style in Robinson's practice combines his Torres Strait Islander heritage with a strong passion for experimentation, both in theoretical approach and medium, as well as crossing the boundaries between reality and fantasy. The results combine styles as diverse as graffiti art through to intricate relief carvings and construction sculpture echoing images of Torres Strait cultural motifs, objects and activity. 

Robinson is visiting Charlottesville through March 8 as a resident artist. This exhibition and residency have been supported by Australia Council for the Arts, Mossenson Galleries and the Embassy of Australia.

Read more about Robinson and the exhibition here.

On February 11, Kluge-Ruhe will open Brian Robinson: tithuyil (moving with the rhythm of the stars), a selection of Robinson's prints and sculptural works from the last several years. The graphic style in his practice combines his Torres Strait Islander heritage with a strong passion for experimentation, both in theoretical approach and medium, as well as crossing the boundaries between reality and fantasy. Read more here.

Brian Robinson will visit the Kluge-Ruhe Collection as a resident artist from February 8 – March 8, 2020. He will work with UVA students in the printmaking and sculpture studios at UVA, and will give a number of public talks. Don't miss this special gallery tour guided by the artist himself!