The Gadsden Museum of Art will have the following shows on display starting Feb. 1: Reflections: An Introspective Journey Exploring Identity by Jill Hamrick in the main gallery, Red Earth Invocation by John Jahni Moore in the 2nd floor gallery, Spatial Dualities in Cloth by Sheri Schumacher in the Leo Reynolds gallery, and Steamboats: A Ride Through History by John McFarland in the Courtyard and Piano galleries.
There will be a reception held on Feb. 4, 2022.
Jill Hamrick’s work is a collection of self-photographs where she portrays past generations of her family and how they have transformed her into the person she is today. The photos range from 2012-2020 as she transformed herself through hair and original clothing of her ancestors.
After a series of significant shifts in her life she felt it necessary to consider the core of her identity. The only way to answer this question was to reflect back on the people and places from where she came.
John Jahni Moore is a southern-born visual artist. He is a graduate of Alabama A&M University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Graphic Design, an M. Ed. In Art, and an MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago. Moore has taught art professionally from kindergarten to the university level. He is the creator of numerous murals and public works from Chicago to Colombia, South America where he twice served as Art Ambassador.
Currently, he works out of his studio he calls C.H.U.R.C.H. in Huntsville, Alabama. Red Earth Invocation, a branch of the Southern Trees series, is inspired by his fascination and adoration of Alabama red clay and reverence for his ancestors. His artwork operates as a sacrament on those pillars, to reconnect to the sanctity of life.
Sheri Schumacher is a textile designer-maker, based in Auburn, Alabama, and the Washington D.C. area. Her creative practice focuses on exploring narratives about cultural landscapes and recording a sense of place through observation and material investigation.
She works with a range of processes, including hand stitching and fabric manipulation. Sheri received an MFA in design from Cranbrook Academy of Art and is a professor emerita of design at Auburn University School of Architecture.
Steamboats: A Ride through History, consists of handmade replicas of steamboats made by John McFarland, text by historian Ken McCulloch, and items from the museum’s private collection. The show discusses life on the riverboats as well as the connection to Etowah County.