THE COLLECTIVE WONDER OF BEING THERE
NEW WORKS BY LAUREN R. LYDE
CURATED BY SHEENA M. MORRISON
HARMONY HALL ARTS CENTER
APRIL 24 – JUNE 5, 2021
The Collective Wonder of Being There features new works from Dream Chasers, an ongoing series of oil paintings and drawings by Lauren R. Lyde that are informed by one of the perennial questions that guides her artistic practice. Am I a good steward?
Lyde’s Dream Chaser series is intended to evoke an emotional response, a curiosity about and sense of connectedness with her young subjects. She asks viewers to consider the quotidian activities of a child’s day as a point of departure for a broader conversation about how we show up for the young people in our communities.
Fourteen paintings and drawings provide a stark alternative to societal stereotypes of incorrigible Black and Brown youth, emphasizing their humanity instead. She takes us on a nostalgic pictorial journey back to the small town communities and big city neighborhoods of our youth. Pithy titles serve as the entry point for subjective narratives on compassion, justice, fairness, and equality of opportunity that transcend the arbitrary boundaries of class, gender, and race.
Languorous, early morning discussions over coffee made possible by the pandemic revealed the intersectionality in her work between her experiences growing up on the Westside of Baltimore and those of a teaching artist working on the Eastside. Our dialogues would often begin and end with how to provide young people with reasonable life chances to fashion a worthwhile future for themselves—and us.
The accompanying text that you see on display for select works is the result of some of these conversations.
The works on exhibit signify the spirited camaraderie of bonds forged and sought during our formative years, alluding to untold stories brought to life in the studio. Viewers can imagine the hand of generational stewardship through Lyde’s procession of emerging young citizens; the presence of watchful adults are felt just outside the frame.
—Curator, Sheena M. Morrison
“Through this body of work, I revisit and amplify youthful assumptions on justice, fairness, and equality of opportunity from a child’s perspective.”
Artist Statement
My work draws heavily upon an expanded notion of stewardship, which prioritizes the giving of my time, gifts, and experience to benefit succeeding generations of children. The practice of giving, as well as the expectation to do so, was nurtured by my mother and father, an educator and social worker respectively. Teaching art with an after-school program in Baltimore, Maryland gives me the space to honor these ideals. As a realist painter, however, I routinely grapple with how to translate those same values into a call to action beyond the classrooms and communities I serve. What could I do as an artist that would engage and implore folks to give whatever they are able, and from wherever they are in their life’s journey?
These reflections gave rise to Dream Chasers, an ongoing series of paintings and drawings informed by a wistful look back at my own childhood with the gaze of an adult who now ruminates on the future. Through this body of work, I revisit and amplify youthful assumptions on justice, fairness, and equality of opportunity from a child’s perspective. The series is intended to rouse a call to action from across diverse sectors of society that center on the wellbeing of all children, regardless of their identity or life circumstances.
References for the work come from an archive of old photographs documenting the Black experience – acquisitions from family, friends, and acquaintances, which I then compose to accentuate the wonder and exploration of a child’s day. My depictions of youthful reminiscences are not merely an escape into nostalgia. Each piece represents a physical embodiment of my endeavors to provoke and awaken courageous conversations about the legacies we are leaving for our children and future generations. Linking all of the works together as a meaningful whole, I invite viewers to contribute to a global narrative of giving and stewardship that promises a world governed by goodwill.
The Collective Wonder of Being There 