“Layers of Joy,” a new art exhibit in Regis Center for Art, holds space to spotlight Black artists and celebrate joy at the University of Minnesota.

The exhibit in the quarter gallery in Regis on West Bank began showing on Nov. 19 and runs until Dec. 19. The five artists showcased are Alexandra Beaumont, Leslie Barlow, Cameron Patricia Downey, seangarrison and Eyenga Bokamba. Their art is seamlessly displayed side by side to provide a colorful, three-dimensional art exhibit. 

Students in ARTH 3940: Black Art in Minneapolis curated the exhibit as well as established the theme, met with local artists, planned events and advertised for the exhibit. 

Student curator Roque Wood Sinclair said the exhibit came to fruition because there is not enough art celebrating diversity in museums. 

“There is a lack of minority voices going into those museums,” Wood-Sinclair said. 

Beaumont is a local textile artist. The exhibit features two of her tapestries, “All My Sisters and Me” and “If I Can’t Get Down.” Bokamba is a painter, sculptor and writer from Madison, Wisconsin. Bokamba has an abstract painting, “I See/I Feel/Somehow I Know” and several painted cubes, “Ode to Joy/Ode to the moment.” 

Downey is a local contemporary artist whose work includes photography, film and sculpting. “Jackie on the Floor” is their creation in the exhibit, which was the result of screen printing many layers of ink on a linoleum floor. 

An abstract painter and writer, seangarrison made an eight-panel mural specifically for this exhibit and donated it to the University. The mural is large, vibrant and, if you put on the special glasses by the entrance, three-dimensional. 

Barlow, a local artist and professor at the University, paints people in bright colors. Her works “Nicole and Seth and their daughter,” “Snowbirds and nebula” and “Horizon” are displayed in the exhibit. 

On Friday, Nov. 22, there was an event to celebrate the exhibit opening and art emphasizing Black joy. There was a dance party, a food truck and live performances such as a drag show. 

Shangwe Weche, one of the student curators, said there is a lot of pain in minority communities right now, and the exhibit is a way to express positivity during these times.

“It highlights the importance of finding places where you can experience joy, even in the midst of pain,” Weche said. 

Black people have been fighting oppression for so long, said Saina Kathi, another student curator when referencing words from their course professor. 

“He says joy is another form of resistance as well,” Kathi said. 

Julieta Hernandez, a student curator, said a space to celebrate art, identity and joy that centers the Black community in Minneapolis is important. 

“Layers of Joy” is showing at the same time as “Art and Artifact: Murals from the Minneapolis Uprising” in the neighboring gallery, Katherine E. Nash Gallery to show how Black joy and pain coexist, Clare Sokolski wrote in the exhibit’s description.