By Aleksandra Sidorova
The Student Association Art Acquisition Board opened its independent semesterly decision — which art piece to buy for Plattsburgh State Art Museum’s collection — to the general student body Nov. 4.
The presentation and vote were part of the Art Acquisition Board’s session for SUNY Plattsburgh’s Black Solidarity Day social justice teach-in. The session received “glowing reviews” in a survey the Black Solidarity Day Steering committee sent to the campus Nov. 7.
“This year was the first year they actually hosted a session to let people know about the (Art Acquisition Board),” said Allison Heard, vice president of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. “A lot of students did not know about it.”
This semester, the board’s goal was to diversify the museum’s art collection, buying from a Black artist. The budget every semester is $4,500. Board members gave presentations about three artists they researched and were considering buying from: Nyame Brown, Nathan Murray and Sheherezade Thénard.
Thénard won with 32 out of 62 votes. The Arts Acquisition Board is in contact with Thénard, in the process of buying their painting.
Thénard’s art focuses on her Afro-Caribbean heritage, colonial experiences and connection to land. Many of Thénard’s paintings are self-portraits. The work the board presented to students was “Between Land and Sea,” a 20 by 24-inch oil and pastel painting on a 2-inch-thick canvas. Costing $4,000, the board may spend the rest of the budget on a frame or transfer it to next semester.
San Francisco artist Brown was the runner-up with 20 votes. His work centers themes of diaspora — ethnic communities away from their homeland — and afrofuturism, referring to a cultural movement that uses themes of science fiction and futuristic technologies to explore Black culture and history.
The work the board was considering purchasing was “Afrotech,” a 4 by 6 feet watercolor painting of a red Black robot. The piece costs $4,000.
Lastly, Murray explores racial and cultural identities, including his own as a biracial white Nebraskan and Black Jamaican, through the facial expressions of ceramic busts. The busts are hollow and come in both full- and half-sizes.
The board proposed purchasing “Defender of the Downtrodden,” a half-size bust of civil rights activist and former Nebraska Sen. Ernie Chambers. The piece costs $2,500 and received 10 votes.
