Panel Moderator and Visual Artist Vanita Lee-Tatum

The African American influence has been paramount in visual and performing arts, literature, fashion, folklore, language, film, music, architecture, culinary, and other forms of cultural expression. For centuries, Western intellectuals denied or minimized the contributions of people of African descent to the arts as well as history, even as their artistry in many genres was mimicked and/or stolen. However, we can still see the unbroken chain of Black art production from antiquity to the present.

In partnership with the Hayward Arts Council and the Hayward Public Library, the Hayward Area Historical Society is proud to host a panel of black artists as they discuss their art as representative of lived experience, preservation of black history, and as a mode of empowerment.

Panelists include Khristel Johnson [Textiles, Quilt], Mark Sublett [Mixed Media], Saleem Gilmore [Author/Cartoonist], and Russell Foote [Photography].

Registration is requested. Free parking available in the garage adjacent to the library.