Youth Artists Reception | 2023

Key Points

• An evening reception for seven artists featured in 2023's Youth Art Exhibition at the Hayti Heritage Center's Juneteenth Celebration.
• After the initial exhibition, artwork was displayed at Bright Black Candle for the months of July and August.
• The reception featured an artists talk and Q&A panel given by the featured artists, a zine making workshop from Constellation member Atom Edwards, and a creative coding workshop from Constellation member Jett Pavlica.

Description

Constellation Collective (then DurmPAC) partnered again with Gail Belvett in 2023 to host an exhibition of youth artwork at the Hayti Hertiage Center, exhibiting alongside the annual Juneteenth Celebration. The Collective created a promotional campaign for the exhibition's art call and jurying panel, organized and moderated the selection process, and secured a venue to extend the exhibition's public viewing period.

Constellation Collective collaborated with Bright Black Candle to install the exhibition in their storefront and workshop space, allowing visitors to take in the artwork for two additional months after the Juneteenth Celebration. To conclude the exhibition the Collective threw a reception within Bright Black, creating a space for the artists to share their thoughts, processes, and insights to the friends and family that gathered to honor them.

After the artist talk and Q&A panel, all attendees were invited to the workshop activities planned by Constellation Collective. In the zine making workshop, Atom Edwards guided participants in collaging prints of the featured art into hand held zines. For the creative coding workshop, Jett Pavlica lead viewers through the process of creating a moving graphic to accompany the exhibited art. 

- Jett Pavlica

Acknowledgements

• Gail Belvett
• Hayti Heritage Center
• Bright Black Candle