The Arts Council Gallery

Through March 28

Tuscaloosa County School System Fine Arts Showcase
Opening on March 1 from 5 – 7 p.m. during First Friday

Exhibit ends March 28

The Arts Council of Tuscaloosa will host the annual Tuscaloosa County School System Fine Arts Showcase March 1-28, 2024 in The Arts Council Gallery and Black Box Theatre at the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center. An exhibit of select visual art comprised of art students from the TCSS secondary schools will open on March 1 from 5 p.m.-7 p.m. during the First Friday Art Walk. Each art teacher will select seven to ten pieces for the display in a variety of media. The exhibit will conclude on Thursday, March 28.

Also featured during the First Friday portion of the Showcase will be performances by the Brookwood Elementary Chorus, led by Amber Hartley, at 5:30 p.m. followed by the Tuscaloosa County High School Jazz Band.

Gallery hours are weekdays 9 a.m.- noon and 1-4 p.m.  For more information about all gallery events taking place on First Friday and the locations, visit www.firstfridaytuscaloosa.com.

The Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center is located at 620 Greensboro Avenue in downtown Tuscaloosa. For more information about The Arts Council, Bama Theatre or CAC, patrons should like the Facebook page “The Arts Council – Bama Theatre – Cultural Arts Center” on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram @tuscaloosaartscouncil. Call 205-758-5195 or visit tuscarts.org for further information.

April 5 – May 24

Stand Up! Ten Mighty Women Who Made a Change
Opening on April 5 from 5 – 7 p.m. during First Friday

The Arts Council of Tuscaloosa will be hosting “Stand Up!: Ten Mighty Women Who Made a Change” in The Arts Council Gallery at the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center. A project of The Holle Center for Communication Arts at The University of Alabama, the exhibit will be on display April 5-May 24, 2024.

This exhibit celebrates the debut picture book of the same title by Dr. Brittney Cooper, professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Africana Studies at Rutgers University, with illustrations by Cathy Ann Johnson. Inspiring text and dynamic illustrations bring to life both famous and unsung Black women who took a stand and made the world a better place for future generations. Each heroic figure is interconnected by a united quest for equity, and offers young readers a stirring, inspirational call to action, reminding them that they are also mighty and can be forces for change when they “stand up!”

For more information about author Dr. Brittney Cooper, visit her Rutger’s faculty page here. Visit Cathy Ann Johnson’s page here. 

Dr. Robin Boylorn, founding director of UA’s Holle Center for Communication Arts says “Brittney Cooper is one of the most important and celebrated public intellectuals of our time. It is an honor to showcase the exhibit celebrating her first children’s picture book, which highlights iconic women and girls who made history but are often excluded from it. Cathy Ann Johnson, who illustrated the book, brings Brittney’s words to life by mapping her artistic process through the exhibit, inviting us into the methodology of illustration. ‘Stand Up!’ offers an opportunity for intergenerational engagement of art, history, and storytelling.”

For more in depth information about this exhibit, contact Dr. Robin Boylorn at rboylorn@ua.edu.

“Stand Up! Ten Mighty Women Who Made a Change” is curated by Nicole Simpson, Associate Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Zimmerli Art Museum located at Rutgers University. This exhibition is also supported by PNC “Grow Up Great.” The program is a $350 million, multi-year, bilingual initiative that began in 2004 to help prepare children from birth to age 5 for success in school and life. To date, the program has served more than 2 million children.

The Holle Center for Communication Arts is partnering with The Arts Council of Tuscaloosa, UA’s School of Library and Information Studies, the Department of Communication Studies, the College of Education, the Department of Art and Art History, the Department of Gender and Race Studies, and Mark and Tonya Nelson to present this exhibition.

Events:

– April 5, 2024: Exhibit Opening during First Friday from 5-7 p.m. at the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center; author Brittney Cooper and illustrator Cathy Ann Johnson of “Stand Up!” speak about the book and exhibit at 6 p.m.

– May 3, 2024: First Friday event 5-7 p.m. at the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center; Panel Discussion about the book and art exhibit with panelists:

  • Moderator: Dr. Darlene F. Atkins, Principal of Westlawn Middle School
  • Katherine Baxter, Librarian at Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary
  • Ramona Caponegro, Professor in Youth Services, UA School of Library and Information Studies
  • Exa Skinner, Executive Director of Kentuck Art Center and Festival

Gallery hours are weekdays 9 a.m.- noon and 1-4 p.m.  For more information about all gallery events taking place on First Friday and the locations, visit www.firstfridaytuscaloosa.com.

The Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center is located at 620 Greensboro Avenue in downtown Tuscaloosa. For more information about The Arts Council, Bama Theatre or CAC, patrons should like the Facebook page “The Arts Council – Bama Theatre – Cultural Arts Center” on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram @tuscaloosaartscouncil. Call 205-758-5195 or visit tuscarts.org for further information.

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The Arts Council Gallery is available to artists by invitation only. The Arts Council Gallery located in the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center is one of two galleries managed by The Arts Council. Meeting the demand for additional exhibit space in Tuscaloosa, the gallery hosts a variety of exhibits by artists from around Alabama and the Southeast as well as artists from our own community. Exhibits in The Arts Council Gallery at the CAC and the Junior League Gallery located in the Bama Theatre, are displayed on a rotating basis and are usually booked several months in advance.

Gallery Layout & Dimensions

Gallery Hours:
Weekdays from 9-4 p.m.

Open to artists by invitation only.