‘Art inspiring art’: The Harlem Renaissance
By Brannagh Rattigan
The Rider Poets and Rider’s chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the international English honor society, shared the artwork of four famous figures of the Harlem Renaissance in honor of Black History Month. The exhibition was meant to inspire art within Rider students and community members.
To start off the night on Feb. 26 in Lynch Adler Hall, both organization’s presidents introduced the Harlem Renaissance, a vibrant period of African American culture, music, literature and art spanning from the 1910s to mid 1930s. The evening’s presentation showcased the individual works of Renaissance artists Augusta Savage, Countee Cullen, Laura Wheeler Waring and James Van Der Zee.
The Rider Poets President Emily Ivanauskas, a junior environmental science major with a minor in English writing, expressed her thoughts going into the night.
“The goal of the event today was to enlighten some people with the Harlem Renaissance and all the art involved with it. We just want people to get involved and make sure that they feel comfortable in our space, comfortable enough to write, to try new things, and to share writing,” she said.
Brooke Foster, a senior English major and president of Rider’s chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, felt the event was more than just learning about Black artists in the Harlem Renaissance, and also about modern day life.
“I think that the lovely artists we included in today’s presentation give us this really in-depth look into what life was like during that time, and I think it was really important for us to bring attention to this now, to remind students of what life is like,” Foster said.
Between the presentations of each individual artist, attendees were provided with 15 minutes to garner inspiration from the pieces of literature, artwork, sculpture and photography to create their own artwork in any form.
In the end, the attendees and hosts were encouraged to share their work to appreciate creativity and the influence of the Harlem Renaissance.
“We had some people who shared different works inspired by different art that we showed and I’m really happy with what I got to hear from other people,” Ivanauskas said.
Tatyanna Jackson, a junior marketing major in attendance, shared she attended the event for her appreciation of the culture surrounding the Harlem Renaissance and her love for poetry.
“I love that we got to know about major historical people that led the Harlem Renaissance. Art inspires art, and that was the format of the meeting,” she said.
The Rider Poets and Sigma Tau Delta expressed the objective of collaboration to expand their outreach and share its ties to literary creations and other kinds of art with the community during Black History Month.
Sigma Tau Delta previously collaborated with Venture Literary Magazine and is always open to working with other clubs and organizations.
The Rider Poets are hosting a general meeting on March 3 and a blackout poetry event on March 10 at 6:30 p.m. in Lynch Adler Hall.
Sigma Tau Delta is hosting a writing workshop on March 9 at 6:30 p.m. in Lynch Adler Hall, and “What can you do with an English degree?” on March 10, co-hosted with the English department at 11:30 a.m. in Fine Arts.
“We’re always looking to collaborate with other organizations, we’d love to be able to expand our outreach to other organizations on campus,” Foster said.
