SIT A SPELL
Founded in 2015 by Vashti Dubois, The Colored Girls Museum resides within a Victorian twin house in the Germantown section of Philadelphia. TCGM's purpose is to honor the living history of Black girls and women: the “ordinary extraordinary colored girls” of the African diaspora who have contributed so much to this country’s prosperity, yet too often remain overlooked and under-appreciated.
The three-story, seven-room memoir museum has become a home base for an intergenerational circle of artists, scholars, and community members who understand the power of reflection. While focused on the story of Black girls and women, the museum offers itself as a refuge and sanctuary for all. When a person sits for a spell, a phrase that originates from Southern Black folk, we are able to regroup, reflect, and become receptive to new ideas and inspiration.
This installation is borrowed from “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” a traveling exhibition that typifies TCGM’s transformative approach. With the understanding that Black girlhood is often fraught with societal hardships that can interfere with health and well-being, the show features the work of six Black women artists who were paired with African American girls between the ages of 10-18. The resulting portraits evoke both movement and rest, contemplation and action.
Like the museum it emerges from, “Sit a Spell” reminds us that while stillness and motion might seem to be at odds, in truth they sustain each other. Even the most urgent mission requires us to slow down for a moment. Be still. Know that when we arise, it will be with renewed insight and purpose.
The Colored Girls Museum dedicates this exhibition to our friend and colleague Victoria Renee Edwards (July 7, 1991 - December 9, 2021). You are always with us.
Portrait Artists: Chanell Phillips (Christina), Nile Livingston (Tyjanae), Misha McGlown (Madison), Misty Sol (Ayah), Serena Saunders (Myka), Aysha Ray Walker (Haley). CLICK HERE for more information on these portraits.
Installation Artist: Installation Artists: Gina Giles, Calli Roche, Lorrie Patrice Payne, Nile Livingston
Video Installation: Erica Hawkins
Photography: Zamani Feelings, Andrea Walls, Khalif Rivers
Design Team: Pilar Carrol, Denys Davis, Marie Monique Marthol-Clark, Monna Morton, Erica Hawkins
Artwork Panel Image: Dara Haskins
Sit A Spell at the Philadelphia Airport is dedicated to our friend and colleague Victoria Renee Edwards, Tori as she was affectionately known. Tori's thesis “Queens: The Weight of Our Crown”, premiered at TCGM in 2019. The exhbitions intention was to begin a vital conversation about the duty museums have to be places of empathy for all. Its unique focus on empathy predates the current reckoning museums are responding to around diversity and inclusion issues. Her prescient work gives us a blueprint for unleashing the power of empathy in museums. Tory was looking forward to helping us design Sit A Spell at the Philadelphia Airport and creating accompanying marketing materials. We did not have the opportunity to do this work together as planned but we know that Tory is with us in spirit. We honor Victoria Renee Edward's contributions to the museum field and all of us at The Colored Girls Museum.