My Freedom!
This is What Freedom Looks Like to Me.
About the Show:
MY FREEDOM! This is What Freedom Looks Like to Me is an online exhibition and creative platform that honors and elevates Black and African American voices through an artistic expression. The exhibition coincides with the celebration of Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery for the last African Americans in Texas, who learned about the Emancipation Proclamation on June 19, 1865.
MY FREEDOM! includes voices who deserve a wider creative platform to connect with each and every one of you to share their stance, social values, and history. This effort honors our multicultural local community and beyond. Art is a raw and honest way to learn more about each other, our happiness, struggles, and challenges. This way of expression teaches us more about working together to build a better, more inclusive way of being and living.
For this online exhibition, we welcome kids/youth individuals between the ages of 10 and 17 to submit artwork about what freedom means to them.
We also invited Camilla King and Suliman Abdullah, two local guest artists to share through their artworks how they interpret freedom in various ways, from freedom of speech, freedom to affirm their humanity, freedom, to tell the truth, freedom of dress and expression, and freedom to establish new cultural norms and break free of expectations set by others. There is a tie-in historical significance of the story of Juneteenth and how it relates to today’s culture in an individual way.
Through their works, King and Abdullah showcase what freedom means to them as individuals and artists who live and work in our local Metro Area, making this an important sentiment to be shared, of how their perspectives may be alike or different from our own. MY FREEDOM! This is What Freedom Looks Like to Me empowers Black voices and young artists to share their stories and personal journeys and to remember the importance of equity and human rights for all.
If you'd like to learn more about the call for entries for this exhibit, please visit our page. We are accepting submissions until June 30, 2022.
To view the exhibit, click on the arrows next to the images.
Guest Artist Statements
Camilla Angel
As an artist, I incorporate mainly black/African American figures in my works. The way I portray these figures not only beautifies my subjects but also introduces the culture around being black and the perils we face on a daily basis. I believe it is my duty to provide inspiration and information on the art of being an African American to people of all colors all around the world. I refuse to limit myself of my capabilities with my art. I am always experimenting with new mediums, new methods, and new ideas on how to challenge the minds of my audience. My art comes to fruition in the form of oil paint, acrylic paint, printmaking, gouache, watercolor, and the most recent being quilting.
Suliman Abdullah
I am a fine arts/fashion/portrait photographer who was born and raised in Washington DC. I use photography as a tool to express and represent meaningful aspects of humankind. As an artist, I incorporate different elements such as nature, patterns, textures, colors, and anything that comes to my imagination. Photography is the passion that connects me to the environment and those around me.