“Intentional Tension“

Proudly Presented by the Warehouse Arts District Association

‘Strange Fruit’ (oil on canvas)

by McArthur Freeman

From August 1^st, through August 31, 2022, the Warehouse Arts District Association is thrilled to host a collective show featuring seven contemporary Artists entitled: “Intentional Tension.”

Participating artists: McArthur Freeman, MFA, MA, Associate Professor, School of Fine Arts USF; Kayla Grayson, Myiah Moody, Vivia Barron, Ashley Rivers, Hillary Van Dyke, and Dallas Cooper Jackson, Ed.D.  

Musing (Mixed Media Sculpture)

by Ashley Rivers

Important dates:

8.11, 6pm:     Artist Talk with Dallas Jackson, for WADA members & volunteers

8.13, 5 – 9pm:  Opening Reception, open to the public

8.24, 6.30 – 8pm:  Artist Panel Discussion- ticketed event,  free for WADA members

 About the Exhibition

Geveryl Robinson, MFA,

Assistant Professor of Instruction at USFSP

“It's an artist's duty to reflect the times in which we live.” Those words, spoken by the incomparable Nina Simone perfectly articulate the pieces showcased in the exhibit, aptly titled ‘Intentional Tension.’  This exhibit is one of art, yes, but it is also one of truth. It is a reflection of our times past and how our nation’s intentional refusal to acknowledge and learn from the past, has continued throughout the centuries.

Through caricatures, abstraction, sculpture, portraiture, and fantasy, “Intentional Tension” showcases how Black people view the world and how they are viewed. How their ancestors viewed their future and how tensions have hindered their vision. How women simultaneously view and control their bodies and how that same control is being stripped away.  How Black people’s peace is like a still river and how aversion to that peace causes others to rock the boat to the point of censorship, because the art is a reflection of a past they’d soon like to forget and one they’d like others to ignore.

However, what’s past is indeed prologue, and “Intentional Tension” was curated with the power, the realness, the history, and the truth of our inability to reconcile that past with our present while allowing the artists the freedom to indeed reflect the times in which we lived and still live today.

The exhibit is shown in the Tully-Levine Gallery at the ArtsXchange Plaza located on the historic Deuces Corridor, 515 22^nd Street South in St Petersburg, FL. The gallery is accessible for people with disabilities, wheelchairs, and strollers.