Beyond Black and White: African American Art & Iconography

Art permeates our lives in museums, our homes, and the public square. The images and stories artists capture tell us of truth, history, divinity, beauty, and pain. In public spaces, how and what we choose to create and show has lasting impacts in our communities. Join Washington National Cathedral for an evening with artists, historians, and leaders for a discussion about art and the impact of imagery of African Americans and African American culture. This evening forum will be moderated by Cathedral Canon Theologian The Rev. Kelly Brown Douglas, Kevin Young, Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, and Dr. Kirk Savage, art historian and professor at the University of Pittsburgh.

About the Cathedral’s Light in the Darkness Windows Replacement Project

In 2015 then-dean Gary Hall called for the removal of two stained-glass windows in the Cathedral – those to Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee & Stonewall Jackson. What followed was a multi-year process to examine, remove and reimagine these windows. In September 2021, the Cathedral announced that acclaimed artist Kerry James Marshall and poet Elizabeth Alexander had agreed to create new windows and poetry, respectively, for the bay that previously held these two windows. Over the next two years as we await installation of the new windows, the Cathedral is embarking on public programming and education opportunities around the Light in the Darkness Windows Replacement Project. Learn more about the project and activities at cathedral.org/windows.

Get tickets to the in-person event here.

Register for the free livestream with the option to pay what you wish here.

Download the program here.