Arts Council of Southeast Missouri invites artists for 'Reflections' exhibition

The Arts Council of Southeast Missouri and South Side Farms, in collaboration with Afrocentric Arts LLC, invites black artists of all mediums to submit their artwork to a juried art exhibition — “Reflections” — starting Saturday, April 6, and running through Saturday, April 27.

Artists are encouraged to submit their art work, free of charge, by Saturday, Feb. 17. Artists who are picked will be notified by email Thursday, Feb. 22. Prizes will be awarded in $500, $250 and $100 amounts.

According to the event website, this exhibition is in celebration of the 2024 solar eclipse. The exhibition’s goal is to have artists from a five-state region — Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee — express the Black experience, from the cosmological origins of ancient Africa to the transcendence of Black expression in the 21st century. Organizers ask artists to mine the interior landscape of their Black experience in personal, cultural and universal contexts.

Arts Council director Kelly Downes said the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri has been working with South Side Farms to not only bring public art into South Cape Girardeau, but to also figure out artistic needs of the South Cape Girardeau community, especially regarding self-representation.

“We just want to use this as an opportunity to see Cape and the SEMO region on the map as a place where Black artists can thrive. We want artists of all colors to thrive, but we really want there to be Black expression and to amplify Black expression,” she said.

This will also mark a return of visual arts experiences to the neighborhood, which boasts a history rich in the African American tradition. The exhibition will take place at a former school, May Greene, which was the educational foundation of many residents of the area, and has since been reclaimed by the South Side Farms not-for-profit foundation.

“I think art bridges gaps. If there’s anything in the world that brings us together and allows us to see our common humanity, it’s art,” Downes said.

This art exhibition is just one of several which will be happening around the April eclipse. For more information on these art exhibitions and or to submit art for this exhibition, go to www.capearts.org/.