Stephanie Brown: Solo Show & Dialogue at Trotter, April 13

First-year MFA student Stephanie Brown recently worked with U‑M’s Trotter Multicultural Center to organize a showcase of her artwork and a discussion on skin color politics within all ethnic communities. 

The Shades We Wear, a solo exhibition and interactive dialogue featuring art by Stephanie Brown, will be on display at the Trotter Center from April 13 — April 19, with an opening reception from 5 — 8 pm on Thursday, April 13.

At the reception, join in an interactive dialogue on colorism: share, listen, and/​or reflect on what is colorism and how it effects our greater community. This dialogue is reflected in the art work displayed that asks what happens when race is used as costume.

“we were speaking of the hostility many black black women feel toward light-skinned black women, and you said, ​‘Well, I’m light. It’s not my fault. And I’m not going to apologize for it.’ I said apology for one’s color is not what anyone is asking. What black black women would be interested in, I think, is a consciously heightened awareness on the part of light black women that they are capable, and often quite unconsciously, of inflicting pain upon them; and that unless the question of Colorism – in my definition, prejudicial or preferential treatment of same-race people based solely on their color – is addressed in our communities and definitely in our black ​‘sisterhoods’ we cannot, as a people, progress. For colorism, like colonialism, sexism, and racism, impedes us.”
 — Alice Walker

The Shades We Wear
Exhibition Dates: April 13 — April 19, 2017
Opening Reception: Thursday, April 13 from 5 — 8 pm 
William Monroe Trotter Multicultural Center
1443 Washtenaw Ave, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104