Pike School of Art is pleased to announce the release of FORWARD, a multi-phasic project by Charles Edward Williams. FORWARD is an interactive community engagement project spearheaded by artist Charles Edward Williams and hosted by the Center for Art and Public Exchange (CAPE) with the Mississippi Museum of Art.
This project examines the historic race relations of McComb, Mississippi in the 1960’s. During this tumultuous time, civil rights activists experienced brutal violence while registering black citizens of McComb to vote. Williams explored this history and the legacy of its trauma through his audio/visual album, FORWARD. The interactive album is a collaborative effort that combines documented memories of the citizens of McComb who lived through those years and the artist’s original music. FORWARD places those early civil rights efforts to register voters in Mississippi counties within the context of a contemporary lens through music and video. To download the album, visit Bandcamp.
Charles Edward Williams is a contemporary visual artist from Georgetown, SC, and holds a BFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Savannah, GA and an MFA at the University of North Carolina (UNCG) in Greensboro, NC. Creating compelling imagery in oil, video and film, and sound installations, Williams uses his work to investigate current historical cultural events related to racism and stereotyping. His works examine the human emotional responses that lie within cultural identity and build tension to expose the complexities within our socio political environments. Through Williams’ visions, we are encouraged to engage in self-examination, to question the false boundaries that separate us, and to view the interconnectedness of our common existence. Visit the artist’s website at Charles Edward Williams.
The Center for Art & Public Exchange is an initiative of the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson, supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
This project is funded in part by a South Arts Presentation Grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and Mississippi Arts Commission, a Mississippi Arts Commission Project Grant, and a Mississippi Humanities Council Grant.
