Skylar Smith's BallotBox exhibit has moved to 21c and we gathered Rep. Attica Scott with Skylar, 3 of the artists: Brianna Harlan, Sandra Charles, & Jennifer Maravillas & 21c Museum Manager Karen Gillenwater to talk voting rights, voter suppression, and registration. Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM, or stream on Artxfm.com this Thursday at 10 am to hear this conversation. It will be the day of Give for Good Louisville and we think this is programming worth supporting!
Clockwise from top left: Karen Gillenwater, Keith Waits, Sandra Charles, Skylar Smith, Jennifer Maravillas, Brianna Harlan, Rep. Attica Scott.
Since 2017, Attica Scott has been a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, representing District 41. Among the committees on which she serves is the Elections, Constitutional Amendments & Intergovernmental Affairs Committee. Previously she served on the Louisville Metro Council for District 1.
Skylar Smith is an artist, curator, and educator. Her work deals with micro and macro perceptions of the natural world, and human-scale politics that influence perception. She is a founding member of Kentucky College of Art + Design (KyCAD), and she has taught college-level studio and art history courses for over a decade, in addition to teaching at non-profit and alternative-education venues.
Brianna Harlan is a multidisciplinary artist and organizer. She works conceptually in multiform, socially engaged art. Her work is driven by an obsession with interpersonal culture and how that influences quality of life, health, and habits. Brianna is a Hadley Creative and Kentucky Foundation for Women Fire Starter awardee. Her most recent residencies were at Oxbow School of Art and Artists’ Residency, Materia Abierta in Mexico City, and Makers Circle in North Carolina. She also leads community experiences and presentations, having been a speaker for organizations like For Freedoms, 21C Museum Hotels, and the KY ACLU. She is currently pursuing her MFA in Art and Social Action at Queens College, CUNY.
Visit the artist’s website: BriannaHarlan.com
Jennifer Maravillas is a Brooklyn based visual artist. She creates portraits of our land in media ranging from found paper to watercolor. Her aim in this work is to capture universalities and connections across disparate communities by studying social structures from histories, landscapes, and visual design. In 2015, she completed 71 Square Miles: a map of Brooklyn compiled from trash she collected on each block to represent the cultures and voices of the community. She’s continuing her mapping work with her long-term project, 232 Square Miles in which she will walk the remainder of New York City while collecting trash as well as exploring connections throughout historic maps and data. Her background includes studies in anthropology, painting, graphic design, cartography, and mass communication. Jennifer also works as a freelance illustrator creating color-filled works about life and the world. For artwork sales information, please contact the artist through her website. Visit the artist’s website: www.jenmaravillas.com
Sandra Charles is an oil painter based in Louisville, Kentucky. Her work revolves around issues that affect African American women in today’s society. She was one of three artists who received a Kentucky Foundation of Women (KFW) 2016 Summer Residency Grant. Her series, The African Warrior Queen Project, was the result of the residency and was included in the group exhibit at Art Sanctuary Gallery in Louisville. In 2017, she was selected to exhibit in the African American Art Exhibition at the Roanne Victor Gallery at Actors Theatre of Louisville, and her work received the Mellen-Oberst Family Merit Award. In 2017, she was one of 15 artists selected to participate in Community Foundation of Louisville Hadley Creatives’ six-month fellowship program. Sandra was one of four artists to receive a Great Meadows “Bully Grant” to travel to the Venice Biennale in Venice, Italy. Visit the artist’s website: www.scharlesart.com
Karen Gillenwater is currently the Museum Manager for 21c Louisville. Previously she was the Artistic Director of the Carnagie Center for Art & history in New Albany, IN.