01/08/2026
The International African American Museum (IAAM) announces its upcoming special exhibition, middle of somewhere: the art and legacy of Black Southern makers, opening to the public on Saturday, February 7, and on view through February 14, 2027. The exhibition celebrates the creativity and cultural legacy of Black artists rooted in the rural American South.
Reframing the phrase “middle of nowhere,” the exhibition positions overlooked Southern communities as vital sites of innovation and artistic excellence. Featuring quilts, sweetgrass baskets, ceramics, ironwork, and handmade furniture, middle of somewhere traces how practices born of survival evolved into foundational forms of American art.
The exhibition also highlights the deep connections between Black Southern traditions and West African visual languages, illustrating how ancestral knowledge traveled across the African Diaspora and continues to shape contemporary creative expression.
Historical Mastery: The stoneware of David Drake (Dave the Potter), whose inscribed vessels challenged 19th-century constraints on Black authorship; the architectural elegance of free Black cabinetmaker Thomas Day; and the iconic ironwork of Charleston’s own Philip Simmons.
Living Traditions: The world-renowned Gee’s Bend Quilters, featuring the 2020 work “Equal Justice” by Essie Bendolph Pettway; and the intergenerational Gullah Geechee sweetgrass artistry of Dionne and Delores Jones.
Contemporary Innovation: The “Bantu Knot” sculptural vases of Danielle Williams; the globally informed designs of Stephen Burks; the community-rooted furniture of Norman Teague; and the continued legacy of Charleston blacksmithing through the work of the late Carlton Simmons, the nephew of the late master Blacksmith Philip Simmons.
