MODEST 0.3%. THE BLACK CULTURE ART EXHIBIT AT NEBRASKA FURNITURE MART IS GIVING PEOPLE A CLOSER LOOK AT HISTORY. THE EXHIBIT SHOWCASES THE DIFFERENT STRUGGLES BLACK AND BROWN PEOPLE HAD TO GO THROUGH IN THE EARLY 19TH CENTURY. KETV NEWSWATCH SEVEN’S DAVON TAYLOR SPOKE WITH TWO LOCAL ARTISTS ABOUT A MESSAGE BEHIND THEIR PAINTINGS. MANY OF YOU CELEBRATE BLACK HISTORY MONTH IN DIFFERENT WAYS, WHETHER IT BE SUPPORTING LOCAL BLACK BUSINESSES OR JUST TAKING A MOMENT TO REFLECT. BUT TWO LOCAL ARTISTS SHOW THEIR EXPRESSION THROUGH THEIR ART. IF A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS, WHAT IS THIS ONE SAYING TO YOU AND STUFF LIKE THAT? I GOT YOUR BACK. ROWENA CAGE AND CELESTE BUTLER ARE THE MASTERMINDS BEHIND SEVERAL OF THESE PIECES OF ART AT THE NEBRASKA FURNITURE MART. I’VE BEEN AN ARTIST. UM, PROFESSIONALLY, FOR ABOUT 15 YEARS, BUT, UM, ART HAS ALWAYS BEEN IN MY HEART. BUT WHAT MAKES THIS STORY TELLS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF BEING BLACK IN AMERICA? I DON’T KNOW IF YOU KNOW HOW BLACK WOMEN WERE PORTRAYED BACK IN THE 19TH CENTURY, BUT IN POSITIONS OF YOU KNOW, SERVITUDE AND VERY SEXUALIZED. SO THEY’RE COMING INTO THIS SECRET ROOM. CAGE SAYS THAT BLACK HISTORY IS USUALLY SOMETHING OF A DARK PAST, AND THE GOOD IS OFTEN OVERLOOKED. THAT’S WHY THEY CREATED THIS IMAGE CALLED PRISCILLA PRISSY. ELLA IS A WOMAN WHOSE LIFE IS ONE OF JOY AND SORROW, SOMETIMES EVEN MYSELF. YOU THINK BACK IN THE 19TH CENTURY, YOU KNOW, STILL LIKE SLAVERY. AND I WANTED TO PORTRAY, YOU KNOW, THAT BRIGHTNESS AND THAT LIGHT THAT COMES FROM, YOU KNOW, BLACK WOMEN. BUTLER ANOTHER ARTIST WHO SPECIALIZES IN QUILTING, SAYS BLACK HISTORY SURROUNDS US MORE THAN WE KNOW, WHICH IS WHY SHE CONTINUES TO BUILD THE NARRATIVE. IF WE START TO SUBTRACT EVERYTHING THAT BLACK CULTURE HAS CONTRIBUTED TO SOCIETY AT LARGE AND THE WORLD AT LARGE, HOW BLAND IT WOULD BE AND HOW HOW IN THE NEGATIVE WE WOULD BE THE CELEBRATION OF BLACK. EXHIBIT WILL BE UP ALL MONTH LONG AT THE NEBRASKA FURNITURE MA
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Artists using art to teach about Black history
Many people celebrate Black History Month in different ways, but two artists in Omaha, Nebraska, are expressing their appreciation for Black History Month through their artwork.Rowena Cage and Celeste Butler are the masterminds behind several pieces of art at the Nebraska Furniture Mart, which is a store selling furniture, appliances and more.Cage said that they have always had a passion for drawing and painting since they were a child. “I've been an artist professionally for about 15 years, but art has always been in my heart,” Cage said.However, Cage said what makes their art different is the story it tells about the history of being Black in America.“I'm very imaginative and a storyteller, so I'm imagining that I'm back in the 19th century, and I'm Van Gogh's understudy, and we have a secret room,” Cage said. “I don't know if you know how Black women were portrayed back in the 19th century, but in positions of servitude and very sexualized, and so they're coming into this secret room, and I am Van Gogh student, and I paint these Black women.”Cage said that Black history is usually something of a dark past, and good is often overlooked, prompting her to create an image they called Priscilla. Priscilla is a woman whose life is one of joy and sorrow. The picture depicts a woman with a yellow hat and jacket on. Priscilla came from a good household and later went to study journalism at the top school for colored people.“Sometimes even I, you would think back in the 19th century, you know, it's still like slavery. And I wanted to portray, you know, that brightness and that light that comes from, you know, Black women,” Cage said.Butler is another artist who specializes in quilting. She said Black history surrounds us more than we know, which is why she continues to build the narrative.“If we start to subtract everything that Black culture has contributed to society at large and the world at large, how bland it would be and how in the negative we would be,” Butler said. “Everything from streetlights to earning boards to just electronics, how phones and computers work, everything that we have the privilege to even touch and have accessible at our fingertips today.”Sister station KETV spoke with Andrew Shesky at Nebraska Furniture Mart about what it means for them to be hosting the "Celebrate of Black Culture" exhibit. “You can get a chance to meet with these super-talented artists. And every piece of artwork has an incredible story behind it. So, it's not only beautiful but also inspirational,” Shesky said. The Celebrate of Black Culture exhibit will be up all month long at the Nebraska Furniture Mart from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturdays and from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sundays.
OMAHA, Neb. —
Many people celebrate Black History Month in different ways, but two artists in Omaha, Nebraska, are expressing their appreciation for Black History Month through their artwork.
Rowena Cage and Celeste Butler are the masterminds behind several pieces of art at the Nebraska Furniture Mart, which is a store selling furniture, appliances and more.
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Cage said that they have always had a passion for drawing and painting since they were a child.
“I've been an artist professionally for about 15 years, but art has always been in my heart,” Cage said.
However, Cage said what makes their art different is the story it tells about the history of being Black in America.
“I'm very imaginative and a storyteller, so I'm imagining that I'm back in the 19th century, and I'm Van Gogh's understudy, and we have a secret room,” Cage said. “I don't know if you know how Black women were portrayed back in the 19th century, but in positions of servitude and very sexualized, and so they're coming into this secret room, and I am Van Gogh student, and I paint these Black women.”
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Cage said that Black history is usually something of a dark past, and good is often overlooked, prompting her to create an image they called Priscilla.
Priscilla is a woman whose life is one of joy and sorrow. The picture depicts a woman with a yellow hat and jacket on. Priscilla came from a good household and later went to study journalism at the top school for colored people.
“Sometimes even I, you would think back in the 19th century, you know, it's still like slavery. And I wanted to portray, you know, that brightness and that light that comes from, you know, Black women,” Cage said.
Butler is another artist who specializes in quilting. She said Black history surrounds us more than we know, which is why she continues to build the narrative.
“If we start to subtract everything that Black culture has contributed to society at large and the world at large, how bland it would be and how in the negative we would be,” Butler said. “Everything from streetlights to earning boards to just electronics, how phones and computers work, everything that we have the privilege to even touch and have accessible at our fingertips today.”
Sister station KETV spoke with Andrew Shesky at Nebraska Furniture Mart about what it means for them to be hosting the "Celebrate of Black Culture" exhibit.
“You can get a chance to meet with these super-talented artists. And every piece of artwork has an incredible story behind it. So, it's not only beautiful but also inspirational,” Shesky said.
The Celebrate of Black Culture exhibit will be up all month long at the Nebraska Furniture Mart from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturdays and from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sundays.
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