Dillard Center for the Arts’ Advanced Placement Students Show and Sale to be Featured at New River Inn from February 1 – 28
By Fran Folic
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL — In celebration of Black History Month, History Fort Lauderdale, proud steward of our community’s past by making our heritage accessible and engaging to residents and visitors, will present “60 Years of Black Art,” a fine art exhibit featuring works for show and sale from Dillard Center for the Arts’ Advanced Placement (AP) students, from February 1 – 28. The exhibit, curated by instructor Celestin Joseph, represents historical and contemporary themes of equality from the perspective of students at the very school that was instrumental in overturning segregation laws in the City of Fort Lauderdale 51 years ago. The exhibit will be open to the public at the New River Inn building of History Fort Lauderdale and will be accessible as a digital experience on History Fort Lauderdale’s YouTube channel.
“Continuing with our tradition to inform and educate, History Fort Lauderdale is proud to present this annual showcase of fine art and African American youth insight from Dillard Center for the Arts’ students,” said Patricia Zeiler, executive director of History Fort Lauderdale. “Celestin Joseph is a cultural treasure and his efforts to enrich and enlighten our community through art and instruction are commendable. We invite the community to experience this exhibit both in-person and online, digitally.”
“60 Years of Black Art,” will feature a variety of styles and mediums reflecting African American culture, arts and entertainment and the ongoing struggle for inclusion and acceptance. Featured pieces in the exhibition include works by AP students Angel Pena, Naima Cornelius, Lewis James, Jennifer Turner and Tay Small, among others.
Joseph received his master’s in fine arts in painting from the University of Pennsylvania. He received a bachelor’s in fine arts, cum laude, from the University of Hartford as a painting major, with an art history minor, and concentrations in printmaking and graphic design studies. Joseph also received a prestigious Yale/Norfolk Art and Music Scholarship to further his studies. Currently, he is teaching Advanced Placement studio art classes at his alma mater Dillard Center for the Arts where he has been strengthening the visual arts program since 1999.
“60 Years of Black Art,” is one of several engaging multicultural experiences at History Fort Lauderdale. Permanent exhibits include “From Dugouts to Dream Yachts,” a visual narrative weaving the story of the ever-changing use of Fort Lauderdale’s waterways by following the strokes of the first people to today’s sight-seers, “The Bryans of Fort Lauderdale” which allows visitors to experience the story of the City of Fort Lauderdale as told through the pioneer family that shaped its development from an agricultural outpost in 1896 to a bustling city in the 1920s to its current status as a leading Metropolis, “Juliette Lange: A Portrait of a Mezzo Soprano,” a fashion and lifestyle glimpse of the socially prominent Fort Lauderdale resident with a lauded career as a star vocalist of musical comedy, plus “Archaeology of the New River” and a multitude of stories and photos sharing the history of other founding families of Fort Lauderdale. The nonprofit museum also hosts a variety of yearly multicultural exhibits highlighting Caribbean, Latin, Native American and women artists sharing their views of history and an artists’ collective collaborative space.
“60 Years of Black Art,” is sponsored, in part by the Broward County Board of County Commissioners as recommended by the Broward County Cultural Council and Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau.
History Fort Lauderdale is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. with docent guided tours, daily, at 1, 2 and 3 p.m. Group walking tours are available upon special request. Admission is $15 for adults; $12 for seniors and $7 for students (through age 22 with a valid student ID). Admission is free for members, military, and children ages six and under. Tickets are available online at
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