About the Exhibition

Layers of Joy is an exhibition of Black art, identity, and community in Minneapolis. The exhibition showcases the work of five early and mid-career artists that examine how layered materiality and artistic practice intersect with the multiplicitous nature of existing as Black. Even as the exhibition highlights the distinctness of their perspectives, it foregrounds how these artists are united through Black joy as a tool for individual expression and community engagement. Layers of Joy will be showing in the Quarter Gallery in the Regis Center for Art November 19th - December 19th, 2024

The Class

*

The Class *

*

About the Class

Layers of Joy is an exhibition curated by students of ARTH 3940: Black Art in Minneapolis (UMN-Twin Cities), highlighting Black artists and the expression of joy in their work. Planning for the exhibition began in May 2024, when students visited artist studios and learned about each artist’s process. In Fall 2024, students shifted to preparing the exhibition, organizing events, overseeing the installation, and producing materials such as the catalog and postcards. In addition to learning the process of curating, students gained a deeper appreciation for the strength and vibrancy of Minneapolis' Black art scene.

Follow our Instagram to see more class progress!

TONIGHT!!! We will have a food truck from The Cave Cafe, a drag show (check out the poster from yesterday), performances from the Oromo Dance Group, and a fashion show! We can’t wait to see you there!

More fun incoming! Tomorrow night as part of the Exhibition Celebration performances we will have a drag show featuring these amazing queens!

5 artists, 5 days. In the countdown to Layers of Joy we want to introduce you to the incredible artists featured in the show. Today we introduce Eyenga Bokamba!

We are so excited to announce the pre-opening live performance by seangarrison. seangarrison has generously offered to create a custom artwork for Layers of Joy that will be created during this show. We want to emphasize that this performance is firs

Layers of Joy is a community centered exhibition, so this week we want to take the time to step back from our work and highlight those in the community doing amazing, life saving work. Please check out these organizations whether you need aid, or wan

We are excited to announce our official exhibition celebration, make sure to put this on your calendars! We are looking forward to celebrating Layers of Joy as well as the hard work of the team and artists who have made this exhibition possible. See

We are officially less than a month away from the opening of Layers of Joy! Here is a peak into what the class has been doing this semester to get everything ready. Thank you to everyone on the team for their hard work! We are so excited to share thi

#throwbackthursday to the class visit to seangarrison's studio! seangarrison is an incredible minneapolis artist, making works about current events as well as his life and poetry. We had so much fun learning seangarrison's story and all about his wor

#throwbackthursday to our class visit to Eyenga Bomkamba's studio and gallery last spring! Eyenga is an incredible artist and amazing person, and her studio is absolutely beautiful. We had so much fun talking to her about her art, plants, and book co

Our partners

Thank you to our student curators and the talented artists of Layers of Joy. Thank you to our partners as well, which are the Institute for Advanced Study Imagine Fund Special Events Grant, the Interim Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, the Beverly and Richard Fink Liberal Arts Faculty Innovation Fund, and the Departments of Art, Art History, and Philosophy, who made Layers of Joy possible.