The KCA is proud to be a county-wide partner for the Washington College Starr Center’s “Chesapeake Heartland: An African American Humanities Project.”  As part of this collaboration, KCA funded five local artists to create new works inspired by the incredible stories, images, and artifacts related to the experiences of African American’s in Kent County, as found in the Chesapeake Heartland Archive.  Each artist selected one or two items from the archive, and were connected with the person who originally shared these items with the archive, to learn more.  The primary goal was to increase public engagement with these important stories, through the arts. The Chesapeake Heartland archive is available to the public at https://archive.chesapeakeheartland.org. 

Each an accomplished artist in their own right, the five Fellowship winners approached these stories through the media of film, digital art, ceramics, photography and portraiture.  The artists were selected by a team of three Board Members of the Kent Cultural Alliance: Stephanie LaMotte, Carla Massoni and Robert Earl Price; and three Steering Committee members of the Chesapeake Heartland Project: Airlee Johnson, Darius Johnson and Doncella Wilson. 

Please follow the Kent Cultural Alliance on Facebook and Instagram for more updates, and join their mailing list to stay updated on future exhibits.

The Kent Cultural Alliance is funded in large part by the Maryland State Arts Council, a division of the Maryland Department of Commerce, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the people of Kent County.