SUMMERTIME at the Harrison
Faith Blackwell presents sweet summer treats against an unexpected historical backdrop
Ah, the Harrison Center. When I made the transition from my small hometown to the big city of Indianapolis, the Harrison Center for the Arts was definitely a motivating factor. I had volunteered at one of their First Friday events earlier in 2023, where I met Johnny McKee (who later became the first artist to christen my very own “gallery” walls at the cafe I now run). It is a maze of art and artist studios, full of delightful nooks and crannies that give me some fabulous creative fuel.
I was particularly determined to hit up the Harrison the first Friday of June because I knew there was a great show by an even greater artist opening in the Speck Gallery. Faith Blackwell is a neighbor of mine, a fellow SoBro artist whose studio sits across the street from BreadWorks at Broad Ripple. We met through the MORE magazine launch party hosted at Studio C, and her vibrant photography instantly caught my eye. Bold and bright, Faith celebrates Blackness and beauty through her crisp camera skills. Her show at Speck was no exception.
Watermelon and ice cream, the two pillars of summertime. A day at the pool is never complete without the cool red sweetness of melon and an icy cone (preferably chocolate or pistachio). Faith captured the essence of these iconic treats, presented against bold backdrops in orange, teal, and hot pink. First impressions made me hungry, but as I learned more about the show I found myself filled by an unexpected bite into history.
Vanilla ice cream. If a shop can do it right, chances are the rest of the flavors will be superb. Vanilla is a baseline flavor, a classic that has been option A for most since the birth of ice cream itself. However, as with most white standards, vanilla hides beneath its sweetness a bitter truth. Under Jim Crow law, black people were denied access to vanilla ice cream, except on the Fourth of July. The flavor of an ice cream cone became an unexpected symbol of whiteness oppressing blackness. Faith Blackwell exposes this history in her show SUMMERTIME, illustrating just how deeply racism is woven into our cultural heritage. America continues to struggle with its intolerant past, though this country would not exist without the people of color who built it.
Vanilla is a bean indigenous to Mexico, and cultivated on an island off the east coast of Africa. The waffle cone was invented by a Middle Eastern immigrant. We find this exact kind of historical trace mirrored over and over in most “American” inventions - ideas and items brought over to the US, that then often become a method to oppress the very people it was taken from. Faith Blackwell’s art insists this pattern will not continue.
We learn history in order to stop ourselves from repeating it. Artists like Faith are inspiring figures who challenge our perceptions of the world, by bringing to light perspectives that the majority are perhaps unaware of. As patrons of art, we choose to open ourselves to the possibility of understanding the world through a different lens. This is the power of contemporary art. We find ourselves challenged in ways we would not be in normal life. Art opens windows into other minds and perspectives, allowing us to change and grow. An amazing gift, to open the doors to new understanding, even through a picture of a simple slice of watermelon and a vanilla ice cream cone.
Cover Photo credits: Harrison Center for the Arts
Link to Faith Blackwell’s art: @Faith Blackwell
Link to the Harrison Center on Instagram: @harrisoncenterarts