Third
World House POC Arts Festival
by Patricia Ngnoumen
Oberlin
College is known as an institution that encourages and enables leaders
and risk-takers to make a change. Indeed, Oberlin is unique in its
ability to uphold students to step forward and take charge. That
is exactly what junior Hannah Weinberg and senior Sarah Meyer had
in mind when they thought of organizing this years People
of Color Arts Festival.
The POC Arts Festival is a Third World House program intended to
promote, support and uplift artists of various ethnic backgrounds,
as well as their art works. The show opened on Friday Dec. 3 and
was displayed in Third World House Library through Dec. 5.
Out of a need to increase and promote diversity and cultural awareness
among the Oberlin community, both Meyer and Weinberg decided to
facilitate a venue through which artists of color at the College
can come together and support each other. As an artist of
color and art history major who has worked in the art world, I think
that there should be more support for artists like myself,
Weinberg said. There needs to be an outlet for artists of
color.
Many artists of color enrolled in the art department at Oberlin
expressed their feelings on being a minority within the Program.
This is a great idea. The art world is really homogeneous
and restrictive. There is very little diversity in terms of race,
and ethnicity so to have a space that is totally ours is
very refreshing! senior and studio art major Naima Bond said.
The artists that were involved in the show were extremely happy
to share their works and experiences with the Oberlin community.
The regular aesthetic of art is very rigid, and much of the
art world is dominated and regulated on a western standard,
sophomore artist Vida Vazquez said. So it is necessary for
us to be able to have a space where we can present our art and its
diverse aesthetic.
Weinberg explained that both Meyer and she hope to see a continuation
of this program at least every semester. In fact, Weinberg revealed
that there has already been interest in organizing another show
next semester. The show certainly had an impact on the student community.
It was definitely an amazing exhibit something that
everyone should go see. The only reservation that I have is it being
in Third World, sophomore Alex Sirkin said. The fact
that it was in Third World leads to less exposure amongst the people
who definitely need to see it.
A few students explained that Third World was a little inconvenient
because of its non-centralized location on campus, while some felt
that the show would have a greater impact in reaching a maximum
number of participants if it was moved to the art building.
The POC Arts Festival offered a delightful experience and in-depth
look into the talent of many of Oberlins finest artists. It
was a chance for artists of color to express themselves and
to resist the constant pressures many of them are exposed to in
the art world. It enabled them to not only share their talent and
diversity with the greater Oberlin community, but to also take pride
in their work.
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