Case Study 3: Reframe history and share Jacob Lawrence’s American Struggle series
Team:
3 curators, 30 commissioned writers, publishers on both coasts, designers, editors, photographers, and a highly involved private collector
Situation:
The exhibition, Jacob Lawrence: The American Struggle, opened in March 2020. Created during the civil rights movement, these artworks feature African Americans, women, and Indigenous people as key players in American history. We needed a communication strategy that celebrated this artist’s accomplishment and did not shy from the complexities of the story.
Opportunity:
Move beyond traditional art-historical fact and reframe the story to illuminate how art reminds us of our shared humanity. Connect Jacob Lawrence and his work with today’s audiences, specifically BIPOC communities. Get the artwork into high school classrooms and offer an alternative inclusive view of American history.
Strategy:
Be truly inclusive and invite more than 30 contributors to respond to the series. Feature a chorus of “voices,” over half of whom are BIPOC. Create a young adult publication that features the work of high school age writers, connecting their personal experiences to the panels. Develop hybrid content that is used on the museum’s owned website, across social media channels, and in the galleries, including an interactive touch table.
Work included: A qualitative survey of young adults to investigate what forms of media they regularly consume.
Research a list of 30+ potential contributors including artists, educators, graduate students, activists, and cultural professionals for possible inclusion in the project.
As a through line to the present, included three contemporary artists of color (Hank Willis Thomas, Bethany Collins, and Derrick Addams) who, like Jacob Lawrence, mine history to create art.
Impacts:
The exhibition traveled to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Seattle Art Museum, the Birmingham Museum of Art, and the Phillips Collection, sharing the American Struggle series with thousands of people. The book was reprinted before the show left its first venue. The young adult publication is described by Kirkus Review as “an invaluable resource amplifying marginalized teen voices and conveying Lawrence’s relevance to their own lives.” A multitude of voices appeared on PEM’s website and across its social media channels, communicating alliance with BIPOC communities at a crucial moment when many US museums appeared tone deaf to the American struggle that continues today.