Molly McFerson, the director of the Wichita Art Museum, spoke with KMUW’s Carla Eckels about the new exhibition, “Safer Waters: Picturing Black Recreation at Midcentury,” by Baltimore-based artist Stephen Towns.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Tell us about the new exhibition.
And the works of art in the exhibition are quilts and paintings by the artist Steven Towns, in conjunction with photographs of Paradise Park, with ephemera from the time period, and some very special loans to us from The Kansas African American Museum of Black recreation at mid-century here in Wichita, and some really incredible bathing attire from the Wichita Sedgwick County Historical Museum. We have several of his quilts, as well as some of the paintings from this Paradise Park series.
What is Paradise Park? I know it was in Florida. Can you share a little bit more about that?
Yes, it's a resort in Florida. That was the place during segregation, and it was the Black resort near a white resort called Silver Springs, ...where Black residents would go for leisure and fun and all kinds of communal activities, weddings, barbecues, and their wonderful campfire beach scene in the exhibition.
Describe what visitors will see in the exhibition.
Yes, Towns created these gorgeous quilts that are, of course, made out of fabric, but also have shimmering sequins and crystals and wonderful details ... inspired by these photographs. So, we will see people at leisure. There's a great couple who are getting married. There are several women on the beach in these gorgeous mid-century bathing costumes. We see there are children swimming underwater. So, these images of joy and recreation — all rendered in fabric.
Why is this exhibition important?
This exhibition was originally inspired by a book called “Remembering Paradise Park” by Lu Vickers, who interviewed several people who had experienced Paradise Park during the 1950s. Steven Towns discovered these wonderful photos and turned them into this quilt series. Stephen is very interested in taking moments from Black history and turning them into works of art to draw attention to them. And in this case, these quilts are representing joy, recreation, people having fun together and that's an important story for us to tell.
We also have a documentary film in the exhibition that was produced by the Shaw Art Museum that has some of the oral histories that were recorded by people who experienced Paradise Park, the people who went there. And it's really exciting for us to be able to share firsthand those experiences along with the voice of the artist — we have some video of Stephen Towns talking about how he makes these quilts. I think people come to the art museum thinking they're going to see paintings or sculptures, and these quilts are unbelievably gorgeous, very detailed, and to get a little bit of insight and to watch Stephen work is something really special.
For the exhibition, were there seven brand new quilts made?
That’s right, never seen before. In this exhibition, there are seven quilts that Stephen recently completed, so [having] them here at the Wichita Art Museum is the first time that anyone has had the chance to see them.
One of the quilts is wonderful. It's called “All We Knew Was Joy.” And there are several children swimming underwater. One of the things that I love about this quilt is [that] you really get the sense that they are underwater. You see the light at the top of the quilt as if the sun is coming, streaming down into the spring. The children have colorful ... swimming attire on. And their wonderful bubbles from their mouths, the air bubbles up to the top, this very detailed quilt that just gives this impression of what it's like to be swimming with your friends underwater, maybe on a hot Florida day. That really makes [it] come to life.
One of the children has this gorgeous bathing cap on with a flower on it — a big pink flower and a pink bathing suit.
One of the things I read is that some of the stories that Towns tells are often hidden stories. Is that indicated in his artwork?
What the museum is really interested in, and taken with, is Stephen Towns sharing moments from African American History and the stories that aren't always told. In this exhibition, seeing scenes of Black recreation, Black joy, Black leisure is really important.
Lu Vickers, who wrote the book that originally sparked [Stephen’s] interest in Paradise Park, will be [here] in conversation [with Towns] on the program at WAM on Friday night at 6:30.
Saturday is a program for families (Family ArtVenture). Stephen will be at the exhibition to chat with people, and he'll be reading from Faith Ringgold’s book, “Tar Beach,” which inspired his work. It'd be a very special family story time.
It’s free admission for the talk on Friday, and the program on Saturday is also free.
The exhibition runs through June 14.
