Ancestral Journeys
THEME: EMANCIPATION
Shirley Woodson & Senghor Reid
SHIRLEY WOODSON & SENGHOR REID
Ancestral Journeys
THEME: Emancipation
the artist's inspiration
Ancestral Journeys is a work created together with my mother Shirley Woodson. Around the sculpture you see photographs of our ancestors and ancestors of other African Americans from the late 19th Century and early 20th century. They chronicle the time from reconstruction coming out of enslavement, the roaring twenties and the migration of African Americans from the South to the North.
We have a family reunion every year, which is one of the most treasured dates in the calendar for all of us. For decades, we’ve had a family historical committee that was responsible for going to the Detroit Public Library and Tennessee to find census records, birth certificates and anything that could help us create the timeline of the family.
These images mean a lot to all of us – in them we see a family trying to stay together when so many families had been torn apart over the centuries, due to enslavement, Civil War, migration and so much else. That family separation means a lot of families can only trace their lineage back to a certain point, even with very intensive research.
We can now go back to the Civil War and our people from Giles County Tennessee:
Joseph Westmoreland was a farmer. He served in the Tennessee infantry (Union soldier Private D Company) January 16th, 1864 - April 30th, 1866. During his service he was captured and imprisoned for 9 months. He was freed and discharged in April of 1866.
CAPITOL PARK, detroit
june 2024
In the pictures on the sculpture, you see his descendants. You see them trying to build family and future together, taking photographs that document their strength, dignity and perseverance.
It gives our family a sense of being grounded. We don’t just share blood, but a shared story in which we find solace and a sense of peace and resolve. It is a history we can pass on to our children with a solidified idea of who they are and where they come from.
For me personally, it’s been so powerful to see my face in a cousin born in 1880, to see my mother’s face repeated over and over again. To be connected to these amazing people and hear their stories is a gift of dignity and pride. People who worked hard and honored their family, from the West Virginia coal mines to coming to Detroit from the early 20th century to work in the automotive industry.
No matter the racism my family encountered, no matter the limitations in front of them, there was an idea that we will make do and blow through the barriers ahead.
I think of my grandfather. His local segregated high school in Giles County only went up to 11th grade so students couldn’t achieve the high school diploma.. My grandfather had to move to Chattanooga to complete his final year of high school and receive his diploma. All of the schools were segregated in Tennessee during this time period. Daily sacrifices that made the present and future possible for our families.
As a response to the theme of Emancipation, Ancestral Journeys honors these people who were on a journey to emancipation, not just from physical bondage, but to emancipate themselves spiritually, financially and materially from the strictures of enslavement. It is a torch that has been passed on to us and their pictures, filled with dignity of joy of being here, inspire us to continue.
Because of them, I am. Because of them, we are – unified in spirit.
the artist's inspiration
Ancestral Journeys is a work created together with my mother Shirley Woodson. Around the sculpture you see photographs of our ancestors and ancestors of other African Americans from the late 19th Century and early 20th century. They chronicle the time from reconstruction coming out of enslavement, the roaring twenties and the migration of African Americans from the South to the North.
We have a family reunion every year, which is one of the most treasured dates in the calendar for all of us. For decades, we’ve had a family historical committee that was responsible for going to the Detroit Public Library and Tennessee to find census records, birth certificates and anything that could help us create the timeline of the family.
SHIRLEY WOODSON
A Detroiter since she was 3 months old, Shirley connected with her creative energy at a young age and is still able to vividly recall the excitement and wonder she encountered in her kindergarten art lessons. Her bold and expressive use of color and brush strokes in large-scale, figurative paintings, as well as work in collage, have been acclaimed far and wide. Across her decades of practice, this creative energy has been matched by her commitment to equity and the future.
Alongside her success as an artist, Shirley has been an immensely influential educator, artist historian, arts advocate and institution builder - from her work with Detroit Public Schools to serving on the executive board of the National Conference of Artists and many in between.
Let's make our shared ideals a reality. For everyone.
These images mean a lot to all of us – in them we see a family trying to stay together when so many families had been torn apart over the centuries, due to enslavement, Civil War, migration and so much else. That family separation means a lot of families can only trace their lineage back to a certain point, even with very intensive research.
We can now go back to the Civil War and our people from Giles County Tennessee:
Joseph Westmoreland was a farmer. He served in the Tennessee infantry (Union soldier Private D Company) January 16th, 1864 - April 30th, 1866. During his service he was captured and imprisoned for 9 months. He was freed and discharged in April of 1866.
In the pictures on the sculpture, you see his descendants. You see them trying to build family and future together, taking photographs that document their strength, dignity and perseverance.
It gives our family a sense of being grounded. We don’t just share blood, but a shared story in which we find solace and a sense of peace and resolve. It is a history we can pass on to our children with a solidified idea of who they are and where they come from.
For me personally, it’s been so powerful to see my face in a cousin born in 1880, to see my mother’s face repeated over and over again. To be connected to these amazing people and hear their stories is a gift of dignity and pride. People who worked hard and honored their family, from the West Virginia coal mines to coming to Detroit from the early 20th century to work in the automotive industry.
No matter the racism my family encountered, no matter the limitations in front of them, there was an idea that we will make do and blow through the barriers ahead.
Senghor's "If I Could Tell You Just One Thing..."
You are the best person to tell your own story. Too often we look to other people to tell our story and we don’t tap into our own power to document and tell our own story. It is one of the most powerful things we can do as human beings – a legacy and gif to the future. So always document the lives of yourselves and your families and friends.
Let's make our shared ideals a reality. For everyone.
I think of my grandfather. His local segregated high school in Giles County only went up to 11th grade so students couldn’t achieve the high school diploma.. My grandfather had to move to Chattanooga to complete his final year of high school and receive his diploma. All of the schools were segregated in Tennessee during this time period. Daily sacrifices that made the present and future possible for our families.
As a response to the theme of Emancipation, Ancestral Journeys honors these people who were on a journey to emancipation, not just from physical bondage, but to emancipate themselves spiritually, financially and materially from the strictures of enslavement. It is a torch that has been passed on to us and their pictures, filled with dignity of joy of being here, inspire us to continue.
Because of them, I am. Because of them, we are – unified in spirit.
Senghor’s “If I could tell you just one thing…”
You are the best person to tell your own story. Too often we look to other people to tell our story and we don’t tap into our own power to document and tell our own story. It is one of the most powerful things we can do as human beings – a legacy and gif to the future. So always document the lives of yourselves and your families and friends.
explore the theme
explore the theme
Let's make our shared ideals a reality. For everyone.
SHIRLEY WOODSON
A Detroiter since she was 3 months old, Shirley connected with her creative energy at a young age and is still able to vividly recall the excitement and wonder she encountered in her kindergarten art lessons. Her bold and expressive use of color and brush strokes in large-scale, figurative paintings, as well as work in collage, have been acclaimed far and wide. Across her decades of practice, this creative energy has been matched by her commitment to equity and the future.
Alongside her success as an artist, Shirley has been an immensely influential educator, artist historian, arts advocate and institution builder - from her work with Detroit Public Schools to serving on the executive board of the National Conference of Artists and many in between.
For everyone. For you. By all of us. Join us.
For everyone. For you.
By all of us. Join us.
PURPOSE
in our relationship with ourselves.
WORTHINESS
I am worthy of love dignity and respect.
AWARENESS
I know how I see the world and where it comes from.
BELIEF
I believe I have something valuable to offer.
PURPOSE
I know what inspires me and what I want to do.
Let's make our shared ideals a reality. For everyone.
SENGHOR REID
A lifetime Detroiter, Senghor explores the interactions between the human body and the environment, creating visual representations of dreams, memories and traces of human contact with nature. Water is a central focus of Senghor’s work, offering the capacity to be still and in motion, reflective and transparent, pure and polluted.
He has received many awards and has been exhibited across the US and abroad - from Detroit’s Museum of Contemporary Art to New York’s prestigious Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Senghor’s work was profiled in the PBS special Make Way for Tomorrow, whose title sums up Senghor’s desire to “use my interactions with nature as a vehicle for reflection, healing and restorative practice”. An artist educator, Senghor is currently an Artist-in-Residence at the Cranbrook Schools.
SENGHOR REID
A lifetime Detroiter, Senghor explores the interactions between the human body and the environment, creating visual representations of dreams, memories and traces of human contact with nature. Water is a central focus of Senghor’s work, offering the capacity to be still and in motion, reflective and transparent, pure and polluted.
He has received many awards and has been exhibited across the US and abroad - from Detroit’s Museum of Contemporary Art to New York’s prestigious Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Senghor’s work was profiled in the PBS special Make Way for Tomorrow, whose title sums up Senghor’s desire to “use my interactions with nature as a vehicle for reflection, healing and restorative practice”. An artist educator, Senghor is currently an Artist-in-Residence at the Cranbrook Schools.