Appointments are required to visit and masks must be worn; learn more.

Jacob Lawrence Gallery hours are Tuesday–Friday, 10am–5pm, and Saturday, 1–5pm.

“The piece was influenced by dance and movement, by history that lives in the body,” Jackson says. Over the course of Descendance, Jackson and Love organically change the flag as they move through it. “I’m interested in the action of developing culture.”

The piece builds on Carver's Message in Blue, an earlier project in which Jackson and Love altered a soil-made American flag in the Carver Center pool to a recording of George Washington Carver reciting his favorite poem, "Equipment." Jackson frequently works in video, but this is their first video without language or text.

Now in its sixth year, the Jacob Lawrence Legacy Residency supports new work by Black artists. Due to the pandemic, Jackson adapted their residency this year to function remotely, an adaptation they say allowed for new possibilities.

“It’s helpful for Black artists to receive this kind of support without having to travel and to really consider what our resources are. Ultimately, residencies are about building relationships,” Jackson says, pointing to the powerful opportunity to bring together Jacob Lawrence and George Washington Carver with this work. “One was a scientist and one was an artist,” they continue, “but Carver also made paint and paintings using soil.”

Additional exhibition information is at the link below.