American Superheroes
A Collaborative Exhibition in Community
Completion Date
April 2012
Partner
Rift Studios, Baltimore, MD
Disciplines
Multidisciplinary Studio Art and Design
Course
Elements of Visual Thinking II
American Superheroes was an extraordinary classroom project I completed with my Elements of Visual Thinking II course. As a cumulative project for a year long course, we participated in an off-campus exhibition titled “American Superheroes,” a project that included within it, a partial renovation of a budding gallery in Station North, “RIFT Studios.”
RIFT studios was a fledgling community arts/studio space located at the intersection of North Ave and St. Paul St. The studio was founded by a MICA Alum, Mika Eubanks and a Morgan State Alum, Kelli Williams, just a few short months before the show opened.
The space was an abandoned bank building and former print studio which needed a lot of love and work. My students donated their time to cleaning/patching/painting/lighting the space and even built a movable wall as a gift to the studio. In exchange, my students were offered a week-long show at the gallery space, the very first show at RIFT studios.
Mika and Kelli, RIFT Founders
The opening night crowd was full of energy!
TA Travis and I being very proud of our kittens.
Not all HEROES wear CAPES
Curatorial Statement
In American culture, the narrative of the superhero is pervasive. We all know the basic story: a selfless “good guy” swoops in out of nowhere to rescue a community from evil dooers only to disappear into the night once peace has been restored to the good people. Superhero ideals have infiltrated our cultural imagination, glorifying the binary operatives of good vs evil and right vs wrong. The artists in the show were asked to critique this narrative by creating an original work that questioned the mythology of heroics and investigated the persuasive power of color in Superhero iconography.
The typical American hero is concerned about their community but never practices “citizenship,” often acting alone and outside of the confines of society. As an act of citizenship to the great city of Baltimore, students from my Elements of Visual Thinking II Class, participated in the renovation of the newly formed RIFT studios and gallery space. Together with RIFT, we all worked towards the revitalization of an exciting new community art space in order to prepare for an important and inaugural exhibition: American Superheroes.
Students curated and installed the exhibition.
We learned how to build floating walls.
Faculty Directors
Jenna Frye and Travis Masingale
Community Partners
Kelli Williams and Mika Eubanks of RIFT Studios
Postcard Design
Crystal Dimeler
Special Thanks
Pastor Ryan and MICA Lucas Grant
Artists
Brit Baumstein, Ben Callahan, Chiosi, Jessie Dickey, Crystal Dimeler, Cicero Ferante, Paul Larkin, Josh Nukem, Ian Privett, Blaine Roberts, Teresa Rodriguez, Leigh Rogers, Jack Sorokin, Helen Steggall, Laura Taylor, Eda Tekirli, Lian Tsai, and Ash Walters