How do artists respond to history by shaping visions for the future? During her time as artist-in-residence at the Momentary, Ariel René Jackson created Bentonville Forecast: In the Square, a short film that asks four community members to reflect on the presence of the Confederate monument in Bentonville Square. Join us for a screening followed by a discussion between the artist, Sharon Killian (Art Ventures/Northwest Arkansas African American Heritage Association), and Sheree Miller (Shame of Bentonville), two of the participants in the film. The panel will be moderated by Raven Cook, Associate Educator for Outreach & Community Tours – School Programs, Crystal Bridges. This talk is presented by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the Momentary, produced in collaboration with Northwest Arkansas African American Heritage Association, and screened on Juneteenth, a day that commemorates the freedom of enslaved African Americans.

Free, with registration.

Streamed simultaneously on Crystal Bridges’ Facebook and the Momentary’s Facebook.

Excerpt of the film here.

About Ariel Rene Jackson

Ariel René Jackson (b.1991) is an American artist raised between New Orleans and Mamou, LA. She currently lives and works in Austin, TX where she completed her MFA at The University of Texas at Austin. Throughout her family’s history, land has been both a permanent reminder of systemic racism and temporal unfolding of possible transformations and outcomes based on individual and communal actions. Material remnants of a legacy of farming and black epistemology throughout the diaspora functions as a guide to sourcing materials and research. Her work has been shown in New York City (Studio Museum in Harlem, 2016; CUE Art Foundation, 2018; Sculpture Center, 2019) as well as at the RISD Museum (Providence, RI 2017/2018), DePaul Art Museum, (Chicago, IL 2018), and the Contemporary Art Center (New Orleans, LA 2018).

About Sharon Killian

Sharon Killian is a passionate advocate for discovering cultural connections through the universal language of art. Her work as president of NWA African American Heritage Association helps to connect communities in Northwest Arkansas from both a cultural and artistic perspective. She believes melding Black history and culture with art is an opportunity for local and globally significant education, the chance to bring critical thinking to the table of understanding each other, and a call for dismantling white supremacy on the individual, grassroots level. She relocated from the Washington DC metropolitan area to Fayetteville, AR in 2005.

About Sheree Miller

Sheree Miller is a retired social worker who worked for the State of Arkansas. She graduated from the University of Oklahoma as a single parent of three children, majoring in Political Science with three minors in Women’s Studies, Congressional Studies, and Criminal Justice. Sheree and her husband Rick are the proud parents of a blended family consisting of five adult children and eight grandchildren; they have lived in Arkansas for 26 years, which is how long Sheree has been concerned about the Confederate Monument in the Bentonville Square. In 2017, she met with local officials to discuss her concerns about the impact of the monument on future generations and the diverse community that Bentonville has become. She was invited to join Activist Asele Mack and Trevor Dane in circulating a petition for the relocation of the Confederate Monument. The Shame of Bentonville has been effective as the Daughters of the Confederacy have agreed to move the Monument from Bentonville Square.

About Raven Cook

Raven Cook works as an associate museum educator for outreach and community tours at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. She is a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated, founder of Foundations: Black History Educational Programming, and hosts a radio segment on KUAF’s Ozarks at Large called Reflections in Black which airs every Wednesday at noon and seven on KUAF 91.3FM. She has served on numerous local and state boards to promote African American culture and identity.  Originally from Little Rock, Arkansas, Cook has dedicated her life to ensuring that all people learn and grow from the discipline of African American History. “You can’t know where you are going until you know where you have been,” has been the guiding phrase for her life and work. While Cook is passionate about her service to others, she is most passionate about being a great daughter and older sister. She credits all of her success to the grace of God and the foundation which her ancestors laid for her to achieve all of her dreams.