(TRENTON, NJ) -- Mercer County Community College (MCCC) will present “Schools for the Colored,” a photography exhibit by Wendel White, at the college’s James Kerney Campus (JKC) Gallery in Trenton. The show runs from Thursday, April 6 through Thursday, May 4. The exhibit by White, a highly acclaimed, award-winning photographer, originated with his “Small Towns, Black Lives” project. According to White, the project began as a modest attempt to depict daily events and activities in a small, historically African American community near the southernmost tip of New Jersey.
Now, 15 years after the first project, “Schools for the Colored” integrates black and white images with digital media to depict the racially segregated school buildings and landscapes that existed in the northern “free” states. White’s method of obscuring the landscapes in the images adds a photographic “veil” that correlates to historian and activist W.E.B. DuBois’ explanation of an early schooling experience. “I was different from the others; of like, mayhap, in heart and life and longing, but shut out from their world by a vast veil,” DuBois observed on his writings.
Wendel White was born in Newark and grew up in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. His work can be found in museum and corporate collections such as the New Jersey State Museum; The Museum of Fine Art in Houston, Texas; Johnson and Johnson in New Brunswick, and the Paul R. Jones Collection of African American Art at both the University of Delaware and The University of Alabama. White has served on the board of directors for the Society for Photographic Education and as board chair for the New Jersey Council for the Humanities. He is currently Distinguished Professor of Art at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.
Under the direction of Michael Chovan-Dalton, who coordinates the Photography and Digital Arts programs at MCCC, the Gallery will host an Artist’s Talk and Opening Reception Wednesday, April 12, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., which coincides with the ribbon cutting for the new building earlier in the day. White's talk is expected to begin at 5:45 pm.
Gallery hours for this show are Mondays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Tuesdays through Thursdays, 10 a.m. to noon, and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.; and Saturdays, noon to 5 p.m.
The Gallery at the James Kerney Campus is located in the Trenton Hall Annex at 137 North Broad Street across from the James Kerney Building. More information about The Gallery is available at www.mccc.edu/jkcgallery.
IMAGES: (TOP) - “Manual Training and Industrial School for Colored Youth,” Bordentown, N.J., by Wendel White. (BOTTOM) - “Bellevue School for the Colored,” Trenton, N.J., by Wendel White
