WEUSI: The Beauty of Blackness

May 20th – June 24th

Opening Reception: Saturday, May 20th, 4:00-7:30pm. Artist Remarks: 7:00-7:30pm. FREE 

Juneteenth Spoken Word Poetry: Saturday • June 17, 2023 • 5:00pm – 7:00pm. This event is co-sponsored by the Windsor Human Relations Commission as part of their Juneteenth celebration in honor of the late Judge Kevin Washington. Ms. Versatile Poetiq will be returning as dynamic Master of Ceremonies. You’re welcome just to listen to others’ words or also to speak your own. Please share out on social media and follow the Town of Windsor social media accounts for additional updates.

Make Music Day: Wednesday, June 21, 6–8pm. We invite you to create & celebrate music! FREE

The Windsor Art Center presents WEUSI: The Beauty of Blackness, an art exhibition, from May 20 through June 24, 2023. This exhibition features work by Robert Daniels, Jesse Anthony Henry, and Ken Wright, three members of the WEUSI Artists Collective , an organization of African American artists based in Harlem, NY.

Stanwyck Cromwell, another member of the Collective, is curator for the show. He says that the Collective has deep and extensive roots in Harlem. Inspired by the Black Arts Movement, it took its name from the Swahili word, weusi, which means “blackness.” Founded in the 1960s on the grounds of community involvement and enrichment, the member artists’ vision was to invoke African themes and symbols in creating art that was associated with the African Diaspora and reached the apex of quality. The Weusi Collective was a major driving force behind the development, production, and dissemination of Black art in the United States in the 1960s and ‘70s.

The purpose of this exhibition is twofold: to raise the awareness of the public about many achievements and contributions by artists of color, and to preserve the rich story of the WEUSI Artist Collective, which is one of the oldest Black visual arts organizations in America.

Windsor Art Center invites the public to a free Opening Reception on Saturday, May 20th from 4:00-7:30pm. just after the Town of Windsor’s annual Shad Derby festival on the green. The Art Center is one block from the town green. You will be able to meet the artists, hear their remarks and enjoy light hors d’oeuvres.

About the Artists:

Robert Daniels was born, raised and educated in Mount Vernon, New York. Painting beyond the confines of convention, he uses historical and contemporary themes that have a direct relationship to his African ancestors. His abstract figurative paintings are layered with spiritual undertones. He consistently delivers pure boundless art that travels across the African Diaspora and reaches the human family. Daniels’ signature style is defined by his use of linear planes, dynamic patterns and textures.

Jesse Anthony Henry (also known as Asubuhi) has been drawing and playing music since 1958. His family moved from Harlem to Mount Vernon, NY in 1964, where he explored, photographed, and drew nature. These disciplines directed him to an intense study of the elements of art and the element of music. In 1969 he began to paint and draw political cartoons as an activist after attending Black Panther party meetings in Harlem and Mount Vernon.

Ken Wright, is a native of Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, NY., whose chosen medium is kiln-formed fused and stained glass. Although he respects tools and precision, his experience as a craftsman allows him to create flowing and gracefully stained and fused glass mosaics. Eschewing gentle pastels in favor of a bold, pronounced, and brilliant palette, Ken’s glass images are urban, figurative, ancestral and narrative, thus evoking a strong sense of spirituality and culture.

https://www.weusiartistcollective.gallery/

This exhibition is made possible in part by CT Humanities (CTH), with funding provided by the Connecticut State Department of Economic and Community Development/Connecticut Office of the Arts (COA) from the Connecticut State Legislature; The PrintHub; and other individuals, businesses & organizations in our community.

Windsor Art Center Open Gallery hours are Thursday: 6 to 8pm; Saturday: 10am to 4pm; and Sunday: 11am to 4pm. 

Located in Windsor, Connecticut, the Windsor Art Center is a nonprofit organization that promotes the visual and performing arts and presents visual art exhibits showcasing the works of a variety of artists working in diverse media and. Parking is free and easily accessible. For more information on the exhibition, scheduled programs and exhibits, membership, and performing or exhibiting in the gallery.