Nasher Sculpture Center announced Friday that Dallas artist Vicki Meek will create the seventh work in the Nasher Xchange program. Her piece, titled Black & Blue, Cultural Oasis in the Hills, will be on the campus of Paul Quinn College in South Dallas.
Although relatively close to the first Xchange sculpture at Trinity River Audubon Center, Meek's work will serve a different purpose than Ruben Ochoa's reclamation-of-nature piece. Meek's project will honor the legacy of Bishop College, which once occupied the campus that Paul Quinn College now calls home. Both are historically black colleges.
According to the Nasher, the goal behind Vicki Meek's project is "to illuminate critical issues affecting the black community through visual communication."
Meek plans to capture Bishop College's influence on Dallas' cultural history with a series of markers commemorating important people and moments from the college. The project will also have an interactive web component and video interviews.
Bishop College, which started in Marshall, Texas, but moved to Dallas in 1961, had a significant impact on the Dallas community in its 27 years here. In addition to its distinguished alumni, it played a big part in the development of the African American Museum at Fair Park and Dallas Black Dance Theatre.
Meek is working with former Bishop College faculty and alumni, as well as members of the neighborhoods around the school, to ensure the project is as authentic as possible. According to the Nasher's press release, the goal behind Meek's project is "to reclaim African American history, restore our collective memory, and illuminate critical issues affecting the black community through visual communication."
In addition to Ochoa's sculpture, Meek's piece joins other works from Rick Lowe, Ugo Rondinone, Liz Larner, Alfredo Jaar and the Good/Bad Art Collective. Three more projects will be announced in the coming weeks.
Paul Quinn College, which now occupies the campus that used to house Bishop College, will be the site of Vicki Meek's Nasher Xchange piece.
Rachel Simone Webb hosted the awards ceremony.Photo by Thomas Garza
Towdah Kiima of Rockwall-Heath High School accepts the award for Outstanding Lead Performer.Photo by Thomas Garza