Pigment International was a media sponsor for the 2022 iteration of EXPO Chicago, one of the largest contemporary art shows in the country. Visiting Chicago for the event were Lagos, Nigeria based artist REWA, whose work graces the cover of the Winter 2021-22 Pigment Magazine. Also, joining us is Milwaukee based artist Ariana Vaeth. We discussed how each approach their work, their inspirations and influences; and what they love about each other’s work.

Lavett Ballard is an artist, an educator, a historian, author, culture keeper. Her work is immediately recognizable in that she uses slices of aged wood and slices of birch in her work, specifically wooden fences. She began this practice for her thesis and continues to evolve it. Influenced by Denzel Washington’s performance in the movie Fences she says, “Fences are a metaphor for those things that both keep us in and

things that keep us out.” Her work The Bus Riders – Demanding Dignity depicting Rosa Parks was on the cover of Time Magazine in 2020. Today we’ll learn more about her practice, influences and motivations.

Today’s podcast is part of our programming for Black Fine Art Month. Held each October, Black Fine Art Month is a global celebration of the Black fine art aesthetic, an annual recognition of artists, innovators, collectors, curators and those vested in the black art tradition. And an opportunity to commemorate and elevate these contributions through art programming. The conversation you are about to hear centers on the role black artists have in telling a more complete story of our country’s history. NBC 5 Chicago’s LeeAnn Trotter is in conversation with artist, sculptor and poet Gerald Griffin, Dr. Robert Hanserd, associate professor of African American History at Columbia College Chicago, and artist and activist Dwight White. It was recorded at the DuSable Museum of African American History, a Smithsonian affiliate.