For centuries artists have rendered landscapes — both real and imagined — to consider issues such as history, belonging, and disenfranchisement. Landscapes can bear witness to stories from the past and offer powerful lessons in the present. Taking Place: Selections from the Permanent Collection includes photographs and paintings that depict urban scenes, rural landscapes, and visions of the African diaspora, all of which speak to notions of history and home among African Americans.

Richard Mayhew’s abstract paintings epitomize love and respect for the land, while works by Frank Williams and Dewey Crumpler celebrate its sheer beauty and spiritual connotations. Nineteenth-century landscapes by Robert Duncanson and Edward Bannister assert the artists’ existence and claim ownership for future generations. The California landscape in particular is reflected in David Green’s breathtaking photographs of the town of Allensworth, and unexpected stories of Los Angeles appear in the works of Dominique Moody and Sadie Barnette. John Outterbridge’s Twenty-Two Rhymes in a Row and Betye and Alison Saar’s House of Gris Gris capture the essence of the American South, while Purvis Young’s Angels Watching over the City mirrors the urban visions of his beloved Overtown. Tales of diaspora surface in the Haitian landscapes of François Turenne Des Pres, the Biblical narratives of Barbara Mendes, and the dynamic architectural views of Howardena Pindell.

This exhibition was curated by Mar Hollingsworth, Visual Arts Curator and Program Manager.