Fall 2021 programs

The Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum announces its fall 2021 public programs related to The Outwin: American Portraiture Today, currently on view at the Museum. The Outwin, a major exhibition organized by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, features the finalists of the Portrait Gallery’s fifth triennial Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. Artists were asked explicitly to submit works that respond to the current political and social context; the resulting presentation offers perspectives on a range of themes of sociopolitical relevance, including immigration, the status of American workers, mass incarceration, gun violence, and LGBTQ+ rights. 

All of the programs are free and open to the public. All online programs are closed captioned. For more information and to register, visit kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu and subscribe to the Museum’s e-newsletter.

Me, You, Us: Stories as Portraits 
September 25–26, in-person
Museum visitors are invited to contribute to this participatory program with the storytelling organization Humans of St. Louis. During 30-minute sessions, trained storytellers will interview and photograph participants for a project exploring the lives, joys, and struggles of the St. Louis community. A selection of these photostories will be shared on both the Museum’s and Humans of St. Louis’s social media platforms later this fall.

In conversation: Artists Jess T. Dugan and David Antonio Cruz with Amber Johnson 
October 23, 11am CDT, online
The Outwin artists Jess T. Dugan and David Antonio Cruz join Amber Johnson, professor of communication and social justice and associate provost, division of diversity and community engagement at Saint Louis University, to discuss representing friends, family, and activists in the queer community, as well as how the artists’ work disrupts the traditionally heteronormative genre of portraiture by centering queer bodies and queer intimacy. 

Screening: Art Movement
October 28, 7pm CDT, online
In this video premiere, dancers from the Consuming Kinetics Dance Company respond to artworks in The Outwin, inviting us to consider the role of art as a catalyst for movement—embodied, political, and social. Tune into the Museum’s Facebook or Instagram channels on October 28 at 7pm to view the video. After the premiere it will be available on the Museum’s YouTube channel.

Performance: Portrait, number 1 man (day clean ta sun down) 
November 18–19, 11am–5pm CST, in-person
The Outwin artist Sheldon Scott performs Portrait, number 1 man (day clean ta sun down) in the Museum’s Atrium. Scott will hull and winnow grains of rice from sunrise to sunset for two days, recalling the labor of and cruel conditions experienced by enslaved people in coastal regions of the pre–Civil War South. 

In conversation: artist talk with Sheldon Scott 
November 20, 11 am CST, online
The Outwin artist Sheldon Scott speaks with Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw, Bicentennial Term Associate Professor in the Department of the History of Art at the University of Pennsylvania, about his performance Portrait, number 1 man (day clean ta sun down), in which Scott uses his own body to create a portrait of his ancestors. 

In conversation: artists Deborah Roberts and Adrian Octavius Walker with Adrienne Davis
December 4, 11am CST, online
The Outwin artists Deborah Roberts and Adrian Octavius Walker speak with Adrienne Davis, William M. Van Cleve Professor of Law in the School of Law and Professor of Organizational Behavior & Leadership in the Olin Business School. Both artists use portraiture to depict the complexity of Black subjecthood, exploring themes of race, identity, beauty, and gender politics.

In conversation: artist talk with Sheldon Scott 
November 20, 11 am CST, online
The Outwin artist Sheldon Scott speaks with Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw, Bicentennial Term Associate Professor in the Department of the History of Art at the University of Pennsylvania, about his performance Portrait, number 1 man (day clean ta sun down), in which Scott uses his own body to create a portrait of his ancestors. 

In conversation: artists Deborah Roberts and Adrian Octavius Walker with Adrienne Davis
December 4, 11am CST, online
The Outwin artists Deborah Roberts and Adrian Octavius Walker speak with Adrienne Davis, William M. Van Cleve Professor of Law in the School of Law and Professor of Organizational Behavior & Leadership in the Olin Business School. Both artists use portraiture to depict the complexity of Black subjecthood, exploring themes of race, identity, beauty, and gender politics.