In the making
Feb. 11 — History is often carried hand to hand, through the things people keep close – the things we save and savor.
That thought was top-of-mind as I edited this week’s Sketchbook stories. Both look at how art, history, and care connect to shape our understanding of who we are and who we could be.
One piece is a conversation with artist Beau McCall, whose exhibition “Beau McCall: Divas, Blues, and Memories” opens this week at Hammonds House Museum. In our Q&A, McCall reflected on the music that gave him the strength to stitch his personal history into something meant to be worn, seen, and shared.
And then there’s the story of what happened at Spelman College when students dove deep into the Johnson Publishing Company Archive for a new exhibition, “Rejoice, Resist, and Rest.” The students acted as both curators and artists, resulting in a lesson on how history is shaped that we could all benefit from.
Each amplifies the often quiet exchange of how memory moves from the intimate to the institutional and back again, shaped by study and intention.
How are you passing history along?
—Sherri Daye Scott
Stitched memory
🧵 Artist Beau McCall reflects on music, friendship, and the labor of hand-sewing memory in “Divas, Blues, and Memories” at Hammonds House Museum.
A Visionary World Comes to Life
SPONSORED BY THE HIGH MUSEUM
✨ Lose yourself in the vivid world of Minnie Evans, where color blooms, faces emerge, and dreams take shape. Experience the exhibition that transforms spiritual visions into unforgettable works of art.
An archive activated
📷 Spelman students turn the Johnson Publishing Company Archive into art, zines, and new ways of seeing Black history in “Rejoice, Resist, and Rest.”
Art Happenings
🆕 Next Exit Opening | 5-9 p.m., Feb. 12 | Construct Gallery.
🖌️ Uncommon Nature: The Abstractions of Freddie Styles, opening reception | 4:30-7:00 p.m., Feb. 12 | Clark Atlanta University Art Museum.
📷 After Stone, After Ruins (Notation 2) | 6-9 p.m., Feb. 12 | Atlanta Center for Photography.
🎨 The Prelude: Quamaine Giles Solo Show | 6-10 p.m., Feb. 13 | HomeRoom Gallery.
Post of the Week
☁️ DREAM ZINE 2025 brings together artists, memories, and moments from Living Walls’ 15th year of shaping public art in Atlanta – now circulating through community spaces across the city.
➡️ See the post.
🖋️ Today’s Sketchbook was edited by Julie E. Bloemeke.