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Dr. Audra Buck-Coleman

Designer, Educator, Author & Social Design Researcher

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Black Women: Image & Perception in Popular Culture

The Black Women: Image & Perception in Popular Culture exhibit addresses the stereotypes that our culture places on Black women, highlights women who defy these characterizations and prompts visitors to consider ways to thwart these stereotypes.

Type of Project
  • Client Work
  • Experiential Design
  • Research
  • Teaching
Subject Matter
  • Discrimination
  • Prejudice, Stereotypes and Bias
  • Racism
  • Social Justice
  • Structural Violence
The photo and title wall of Black Women: Image & Perception in Popular Culture

Summary

27 Qualitative interviews
19 Weeks on display
16 Collaborating students

This project began at the request of Charles Bethea while he was head of exhibition curation at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum. The goal of this exhibition was to celebrate Black women by identifying the harmful ways popular culture often stereotypes them, showing counter-stereotypical images and information to refute those pejorative ideas, and creating conversation around the ways to negate these stereotypes. We included participatory components to gain visitor feedback about the impact of the exhibition’s messages. Preliminary data indicate many were empowered by the exhibition and have a greater sense of agency of how to dispel the stereotypes of Black women and others. Findings contribute to our understanding of the potential impact public exhibitions can play in prompting self-efficacy and agency in minority populations.

Collaborators

Charles Bethea, UMD 2017 senior design cohort

Collaborating Institutions

  • The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture

Details

A view of the exhibit, including the 25 foot timeline.

The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture in Baltimore hosted the Black Women: Image & Perception in Popular Culture, which was on display August through December 2018.

This exhibit calls attention to and then dismantles three primary stereotypes of Black Women: Jezebel, the Angry Black Woman or Sapphire, and the Mammy.

The exhibit celebrates Black women by identifying the harmful ways popular culture often stereotypes Black women and showing counter-stereotypical images and information to refute those pejorative ideas.

A collection of Kyle Pompey's photographs.

The exhibit features photographs by Kyle Pompey.

The Timeline

A woman looks at the timeline

The exhibit includes a 25-foot timeline that informs and reminds visitors about little-celebrated, stereotype-defying Black women, such as NASA scientist Katherine Johnson and politician Shirley Chisholm.

A close up of the timeline. This detail shows information on Gabby Douglas.

Inviting Participation

An attendee writes their thoughts on the chalk wall.

The goal of two participatory chalk-wall components is to give exhibit-goers a sense of agency and self-efficacy in terms of how to cope with and thwart stereotypes.

The chalk wall components offer visitors opportunities to join the conversation.

See More Projects

Students looking at blacklight responsive posters.
Teaching:
Nations of Resilience
University of Maryland students collaborated with Native students to create this exhibit, which spotlights the challenges and successes of U.S. Native American populations.
Attendees listen to a speaker
Research:
#SayItLikeItIs
#SayItLikeItIs was a daylong symposium for Baltimore area high school students. They discussed violence in their schools and neighborhoods, how art could help promote their mental health, and ways to improve their school environments.
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