Our first digital exhibition examines the history of Inauguration Day in the United States of America.

Featuring Virginia-based woodturner Charles Farrar and Detroit-based textile artist Andrew Wilson, this show features artwork that is a meditation on slow craft and how this slowness collects, amplifies, and transports the viewer through care. In the words of Andrew Wilson, the making of the work “is the way I peer into the archive and interrogate the histories that shape the fabric of Blackness.” Farrar, whose work was included in the Obama White House Collection, pays homage to woodturning’s north African roots through evocative pieces that explore the African American experience. Both artists use the power of history and storytelling to inform their artwork, with a focus on histories that are often left untold – or under told.

The 20th Amendment to the Constitution specifies that the term of each elected President of the United States begins at noon on January 20 of the year following the election. The word inauguration stems from the Latin augur, which refers to the rituals of ancient Roman priests seeking to interpret if it was the will of the gods for a public official to be deemed worthy to assume office. Each president must take the oath of office before assuming the duties of the position. What does history tell us about the will that led the way to January 20, 2025? How do artists whose work centers on untold – or under told – stories provide context and meaning to this moment in time? This exhibition explores history through the lens of contemplative contemporary artwork born of dedication and devotion to truth telling.