Reflections in Black at the Mills College Art Museum

by Shauna Jones

While students are handing in their final exams and professors are preparing for their vacations, there's still a din in the Mills College Art Museum as the staff complete installation of the museum's first-ever summer exhibition. Please join us in an historic celebration of the rich legacy of African American artists through Reflections in Black: Smithsonian African American Photography, a three-part exhibition of over 300 dynamic, sensitive, and powerful works of art by 120 photographers.

The first major exhibition to document the history of black photographers' work from 1840 to the present, Reflections in Black will be hosted by Mills along with the African American Museum and Library at Oakland (AAMLO) and the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA). Curated by Deborah Willis, Professor of Photography and Imaging at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, the exhibition was organized by the Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

In conjunction with the exhibition, all three museums are hosting exciting public events. At Mills: Opening reception, Saturday, June 7, from 6 to 8 p.m., Saturday art-making workshops for children and families, Wednesday evening jazz and poetry performances, and exhibition tours every Saturday at 1 p.m. or by advance request for groups of five or more. Admission is free.

For more information, museum hours, and a complete listing of Mills events, call the museum at 430-2164, or visit the online Fine Arts Events Calendar at www.mills.edu/artsevents. To join the Fine Arts at Mills e-mail list, contact Shauna Jones, shjones\@mills.edu.

For more information about AAMLO, call 637-0200 or visit www.oaklandlibrary.org/AAMLO. For more information about OMCA, call 238-2200 or visit www.museumca.org.