Community Engagement with Artist Oasa DuVerney
Join artist Oasa DuVerney and help shape the artwork that will appear in the newly-renovated Eastern Parkway branch.
We welcome teens throughout the borough and in the neighborhood for a conversation about BIPOC authors that inspire you. Learn about new authors you may not yet know of the African diaspora, and decide who among them deserve pride of place as part of a permanent artwork at the branch. The portraits of these celebrated and important authors will appear on the second flooor of the new branch when it opens, and some of them in the Teen wing.
Artist Project Statement:
I am proposing a series of reflective portraits of influential authors from the African diaspora for the Brooklyn Public Library Eastern Parkway branch. These portraits will be etched into shatterproof glass mirrors. The mirrors will provide viewers the opportunity to reflect on the authors being represented and themselves. Focusing on the African Diaspora pays homage to the diversity of cultures and peoples of African decent currently living in Crown Heights, their journey and making this community home.
---
This public art project is part of Percent for Art, where the artist was selected by a city-appointed panel of independent critics, artists and cultural partners, as well as Brooklyn Public Library. Youth and people of Brooklyn play an important role in helping to shape the art. This is the first of two community engagements.
This is a virtual program; all registrants will receive login information upon registration.
Image: Oasa DuVerney (left) and daughter.
About the Artist:
Oasa DuVerney, a New York native, is an artist and mother. Selected exhibitions, residencies and media include: (2020)2020 Women To Watch, NMWA; BLACK POWER WAVE, BRIC, Brooklyn, NY (2019); (2019) Something To Say, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn NY (2018); The Window and the Breaking of the Window, Studio Museum in Harlem, NYC (2016); The Brooklyn Biennial II, BRIC, Brooklyn, NY (2016); Through A Glass Darkly, Postmasters Gallery, NYC (2012); Rush Philanthropic Foundation Artist Residency (2016), Smack Mellon Studio Artist Residency (2014-2015); LMCC Workspace Residency (2012-2013); The Guardian UK, UK (2019), T he Independent, UK (2016), Hyperallergic (2015, 2016), The Guardian UK,UK (2015), Palestine News Network (2013), and The New York Times (2012, 2011). She received her B.F.A. from SUNY Fashion Institute of Technology, and her M.F.A. from CUNY Hunter College. She is an educator that has worked with teens throughout Brooklyn and through her ongoing community-based project, BROOKLYN HI ART MACHINE, with fellow artist Mildred Beltré.
