Join us for a Slow Art Tour of Claire Alexandre’s Of Soil and Sky with Gail Belvett on Thursday, November 11, 2021 at 6pm in the Vault Gallery. Alexandre’s exhibition, Of Soil and Sky, is located in the Vault Gallery and will be on view until January 2022. This exhibition is co-organized and presented by 21c Museum Hotel Durham, The Understudy, Provident1898, and Mavis Gragg.

A slow art tour presents a philosophical and literal alternative to the way visitors have traditionally consumed art. The tour challenges the notion that one needs to ‘know’ about art in order to appreciate it. A group of people gather to slowly savor a single object, looking closely while engaging multiple senses. Deliberate facilitation—grounded in the pedagogy of evidence-based Visual Thinking Strategies—encourages an inclusive community where observations are heard and valued. This inclusive process allows the group to co-create an interpretation of the work that culminates in an experience that is as unique as the people who are gathered around that specific object, on that day, at that time.

Providing a safe event for artists, attendees, and staff is our top priority. We will continue to monitor and follow guidance provided by the CDC regarding COVID-19. Updates and information will be shared with registered attendees through email prior to the performance. Masks are required.

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ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Of Soil and Sky is a collection of passed-down memories that share the wandering reflections of my existence as a Diaspora child on unceded Indigenous and AfroCarolina land. Housed in the depths of 21c Museum Hotel Durham and NC Mutual Life Insurance’s Provident1898, these vibrant depictions of ancestors, friends, and mentors become intertwined with the buildings’ cultural foundations and that of the larger landscape of what we call North Carolina. Part mythology for this moment and part ecological guide, the mixed-media offerings honor the powerful entities and energies that have repeatedly created sanctuary for my people and me, not only throughout time, but into futurity.

About Gail Belvett

Belvett is a curator, art enthusiast, collector, gallery guide, and founder of The Art Chose Me. She is a graduate of UNC Adams School of Dentistry and founder of Southpoint Family Dentistry. In 2018, Belvett sold Southpoint Family Dentistry to deepen her involvement of the arts. She is a Gallery Guide at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University and was Chair of their Collections Committee from 2016 – 2020. Recently, Belvett curated We Are Here: Past, Present, Future, currently on view at Hayti Heritage Center.

To learn more about Gail Belvett, follow her @the_art_chose_me on Instagram.