Violet, Jake, Wilma and Tameika Henson. Photo by Jonathan Hillyer
By Gina Malone
Mica Gallery, in partnership with Traditional Voices Group (TVG), presents Raised By Women, an exhibition of work by photographer Jonathan Hillyer, Saturday, April 20, through May 8. The exhibition takes its name from Affrilachian poet Kelly Norman Ellis’ poem that celebrates the strength, spirit and intellect of African American mothers. Hillyer’s photographs, says Mica artist Jean McLaughlin, capture “the personalities of women who are a part of our communities but are often unseen and definitely underrepresented. These women—all mothers—welcomed Hillyer into their homes to share the personal side of their lives, the intimate views that often only one’s families see.”
On Friday, April 26, Affrilachian poet Crystal Dawn Good, who is working in Mitchell and Yancey County schools during National Poetry Month, will read her poetry at 6 p.m. during an opening reception for the exhibition. The reception lasts from 5–7 p.m.
Charlotte Barnette. Photo by Jonathan Hillyer
A professional photographer based in Atlanta, Hillyer has a home in the Burnsville area and has been visiting the region since the 1970s. Some of the photographs in the exhibition are ones he began taking about 20 years ago as a way to preserve a vanishing way of life, and others came about once he heard about TVG’s oral history project in the Lincoln Park community, which sits directly above downtown Burnsville.
Lincoln Park residents filed suit in the 1950s to have Yancey County schools desegregated, and the county became the first in North Carolina to integrate after a federal court order. Among Hillyer’s portraits are ones of Charlotte Barnette and her daughter Shirley Whiteside, who in 1960 integrated East Yancey County High School in Burnsville.
“We are excited about this project for many reasons,” says Ellen Denker, president of TVG, a nonprofit that collects oral histories in Yancey County. “Foremost among them is being able to showcase Jonathan Hillyer’s evocative portrait photography and Kelly Norman Ellis’ remarkable poem. And also because of our partnership with Toe River Arts and two extraordinary galleries in Burnsville and Bakersville. It’s gratifying that these organizations want to bring this work to the public forum. The contributions of African American mothers to life in the southern Appalachian mountains are infinite.”
On May 10, the exhibit moves to Plott Hounds Books, in Burnsville, where it will be displayed until June 22. “For far too long the nurturing work of women has been devalued, and the existence of Black residents of Appalachia, in both past and the present, has been erased,” says store owner Ronni Lundy. “Raised By Women aims to make visible and celebrate both.”
Mica is an artist-run gallery of fine art and contemporary craft located at 37 North Mitchell Avenue, Bakersville. The gallery is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 12-5 p.m. Follow the gallery on its website MicaGalleryNC.com, on Facebook at Mica Gallery NC or on Instagram at micagallerync. Plott Hound Books is located at 102 West Main Street, Burnsville.
