Greensboro’s Safe House Museum Inaugural Art Exhibit Curated by UA Students

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The newly renovated Safe House Black History Museum in Greensboro will inaugurate a series of art exhibitions with a show curated by students at The University of Alabama.

The inaugural exhibition, “Identity,” draws works from the Paul R. Jones Collection of American Art at The University of Alabama and will be open Sept. 17-Oct. 21. Hours are Monday, Wednesday and Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

An opening reception for the show will be held in conjunction with the grand-reopening of the museum Saturday, Sept. 17 at 4 p.m.

The show includes pieces selected to reveal a process of discovery, a unique path toward identity through the diverse languages of color, shape, texture, line, material and image.

Mirroring the Safe House Museum’s philosophy of celebrating the work of both renowned and unknown civil rights heroes, this show draws works from known artists as well as unknown artists in the collection. Some of the works have been exhibited in acclaimed galleries and museums while others were bought by Jones at street fairs far away from the fine-art community.

Notable artists featured in the show include Reginald Gammon, Amalia K. Amaki and Herman Bailey, otherwise known as Kofi X.

The museum’s new art gallery was built as part of renovations completed by Auburn University’s Rural Studio, an architecture program based in Hale County. A team of three Rural Studio students worked with the museum to address the museum’s needs and desires in the design.

UA students Mo Fiorella and Joe Parmer were asked by the student architects to curate the exhibit. Both are graduates of UA’s New College. Fiorella is now enrolled in the MFA in book arts program at The University of Alabama. Parmer is enrolled in the MA program in American Studies.

They brought to the project their individual and shared interests in visual art, the Civil Rights movement, the South and art curation.

“Our philosophy was to ensure that the architectural project, the museum display renovations, and the gallery exhibit were cohesive in appearance and related in content; to highlight works in the Paul R. Jones Collection  as well as the spirit of the collector; and, especially, to be accessible and approachable to the community of Greensboro,” Fiorella and Parmer said.

Collector Paul R. Jones acquired his collection with the intent to show works with humble roots and influential pieces as equally-important pieces of American art. In 2008 Jones donated some 1,700 works to The University of Alabama to be used as a teaching collection for students and to be available for public exhibition.

Additional works from the Jones Collection can be seen at the Paul R. Jones Gallery at 2308 6^th Street in downtown Tuscaloosa. The Jones Gallery is open Tuesday-Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 12 a.m. – 5 p.m. Additionally, the gallery has extended hours 6-8 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month as part of Tuscaloosa’a Art Night.

The Paul R. Jones Collection of American Art is part of UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.