Gainesville, Fla., June 25, 2014 — The University of Florida (UF) Center for Arts in Medicine, the Harn Museum of Art and UF’s College of the Arts will present Visions of Grace featuring the work of New York-based artist and educator Elizabeth Brown Eagle July 9-August 8, 2014 at the Harn Museum of Art at UF. The installation, which is part of UF’s Creative B summer activities, reflects Brown Eagle’s experience in three African communities over the past five years and features 18 mixed media collages and photographs from her travels. The public is invited to attend a free opening reception Saturday, July 12, 2014 from 3-5 p.m. at the Harn Museum of Art.
“As an artist and educator, I worked with Samburu and Maasai tribes in North Eastern Kenya,” said Brown Eagle. “My work illustrates both everyday life – the red earth, the dry vegetation, livestock, school children, warriors and a rich cultural history. These images celebrate the pastoralists’ respect for humanity, reverence for the natural environment, and their profound sense of identity.”
In Port Elizabeth, South Africa, Brown Eagle taught drawing and collage to students in Joe Slovo Township. The Xhosa people welcomed Brown Eagle into their school and family life. Against an immense backdrop of bright blue sky, repurposed plastic, metal and wood, and seemingly limitless dirt roads, Brown Eagle says she was captivated by the vibrancy and light in Joe Slovo. “My work captures a sense of distance and the experience of looking into the township’s vast layers of shacks, while conveying a community’s spirit of pride, generosity and openness.”
The grace of those she encountered and the depth of their traditions moved Brown Eagle. In Visions of Grace, Brown Eagle combines photographs with paint, charcoal and pastel to capture the visual narratives of people in everyday life: the strength, vibrancy, joy, curiosity, power and wisdom of those she meets and their environment.
For the past two decades Brown Eagle, a native of Jacksonville, Florida, has witnessed the power of art to heal and transform in the New York City classrooms where she teaches and through her non-profit organization, e2 education & environment, which works around the world using its This is Ours, a series of visually literate educational publications in which students create individual books using digital photography, illustration and writing. The books become part of an innovative curriculum both abroad and at home, allowing young people to be their own advocates and explore new ways of understanding their relationship with the world around them.
Also through Creative B, Brown Eagle will teach the This Is Ours curriculum in partnership with UF’s Center for Arts in Medicine to a community of adolescent girls at Alachua Academy in Gainesville. The project is designed to allow adolescents facing major life challenges to see their world, and their role in it, in a way that can empower them to build a healthier and more productive future, and to know that they can make a difference for themselves and others.
For more information about the installation and the Harn Museum of Art, visit www.harn.ufl.edu or call (352) 392-9826. To learn more about the artist, visit Elizabethbrowneagle.com. For more information on UF’s Creative B summer program and related activities, visit creativeb.aa.ufl.edu.
About UF’s Center for Arts in Medicine
The Center for the Arts in Medicine was established at the University of Florida in 1999. The Center grew from the groundbreaking clinical work of the Shands Arts in Medicine program, and serves as the academic, research and community outreach component of the partner programs. It is the mission of the Center for the Arts in Medicine to facilitate research, education and training in the use of the arts to enhance the healing process, to further develop arts in health care as career options for artists and to promote art and creativity as catalysts for developing healthy lifestyles. The Center provides a framework for interdisciplinary collaboration among University of Florida faculty and students, healthcare providers, clinical artists, and our local and global communities. The Center develops and effects interdisciplinary research studies and educational curricula on all levels and serves as a national model for the arts in healthcare research, education and training. To learn more, visit www.arts.ufl.edu/cam.
About the College of the Arts
The College of the Arts, previously known as the College of Fine Arts, is one the 16 colleges and more than 150 research centers and institutes at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. The College of the Arts offers baccalaureate, master’s and Ph.D. degree programs in its three fully-accredited schools — the School of Art + Art History, School of Music and School of Theatre + Dance. The college is home to the Center for Arts in Medicine, Center for World Arts, Digital Worlds Institute, University Galleries and the New World School of the Arts in Miami. More than 100 faculty members and more than 1,220 students work together daily to engage, inspire and create. The college hosts more than 300 performances, exhibitions and events each year. Faculty and students also exhibit and perform at other local, national and international venues. To learn more, visit www.arts.ufl.edu.
About the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art
Founded in 1990, the Harn Museum of Art is an integral part of the University of Florida. The Harn contributes to an interconnected, international community by integrating the arts and culture into curricula throughout the university’s system of colleges and centers. Its holdings include more than 9000 works in five main collecting areas: Asian art, African art, photography, modern art of the Americas and Europe, and international contemporary art. The museum also has noteworthy collections of Oceanic and Ancient American Art and works on paper. In addition to rotating installations drawn from its permanent collection, the Harn organizes traveling exhibitions, public lectures, panel discussions, academic symposia, and educational programs for adults, students, and children.
The Harn Museum of Art, at 3259 Hull Road in Gainesville, Florida, is part of the University of Florida’s Cultural Plaza, which is also home to the Florida Museum of Natural History and the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. Admission is free. Hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. The museum is open until 9 p.m. the second Thursday of every month for Museum Nights. The Camellia Court Café is open Tuesday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information call 352-392-9826 or visit www.harn.ufl.edu.
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Media Contacts:
Leah Craig
University of Florida College of the Arts
Office: 352.273.1489 | Cell: 904.419.3346
Tami Wroath
Harn Museum of Art
Office: 352.392.9826 x2116
