The Museum of Arts & Design + the artist, Derrick Adams will take a deep-dive into The Green Book, a guidebook for black Americans, published by New York postal worker Victor Hugo Green from 1936 to 1966, during the Jim Crow era in America.
Let’s take this ride.
Derrick Adams: Sanctuary reimagines working-class African-Americans before and during the Civil Rights Movement, as they pursued the American Dream of travel, with the Green Book as their guide. This is an exhibit of “large-scale sculpture, mixed-media collage, and assemblage on wood panels, that reimagine safe destinations for the black American travelers during the mid-twentieth century. ” This project, inspired by The Negro Motorist Green Book, explores how the book served as “a guide to finding businesses that were welcoming to black Americans, including hotels and restaurants, during an era when open and often legally prescribed discrimination against nonwhites was widespread.”
The exhibit Derrick Adams: Sanctuary will be on view from January 25 to August 12, 2018 at Museum of Arts & Design, 2 Columbus Circle. Opening Reception and Preview will be held on Wednesday, January 24th from 6:00-8:30pm. Related programming includes a curator-led tour on February 13th and a full-day of Teacher’s Professional Development on January 29th.
The exhibit is guest curated by Dexter Wimberly, Executive Director of Aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art (Newark), with support from the Museum of Arts & Design’s Assistant Curator, Samantha De Tillio, and presented by MAD with community engagement partner, The Africa Center.
Unpacking the Green Book: Travel and Segregation in Jim Crow America will be on view at MAD from March 1 to April 8, 2018.