Award-winning artist and author, Joanne Dowdy is a professor of adolescent/adult literacy at Kent State University in the school of Teaching, Learning & Curriculum Studies. Dr. Dowdy's publications have largely been her inspiration for this exhibit, which includes documentation of the experiences of Black Women involved in education. As a young woman, Dowdy studied at the Julliard School of Performing Arts and was fortunate enough to study with Mrs. Walker, Mrs. Shephard, and Miss O'Brien, the primary school teachers at Newtown Girls' Roman Catholic School in Trinidad who are featured in her seventh book, In the Public Eye (2009). The exhibit includes selected photographs of Dowdy during her distinguished career as educator, performer and author. In addition, illustrations from her recent book, Olympic Hero: Lenox Kilgour's Story, a chronicle of her father's contribution to the Olympic legacy in Trinidad and Tobago, will be displayed. In an interview with journalist Samantha Noel of the Trinidad Guardian (2007), Dowdy notes that she hopes that after viewing the exhibits, participants will leave the "room feeling richer for having encountered the stories of these fellow humans who were merely being at a specific time and in a special place."
The exhibit runs from September 9-26, and is free and open to the public during gallery hours. The reception, with remarks by Joanne Kilgour Dowdy, will take place Thursday September 18, 2014 between 5:00-7:00pm. Remarks begin at 5:30 in the Uumbaji Gallery (Oscar Ritchie Hall, Room 134).
Contact:
Moema Furtado, Curator, mfurtado@kent.edu, 330 335-2670
Amoaba Gooden, Ph.D. agooden@kent.edu, 330-672-2300