AND WE WENT: 60 YEARS AFTER THE BATON ROUGE SWIM-IN
Curated by Jonell Logan
July 5 - 27, 2023
open to the public, free of charge (Tue-Sun, 12-6pm)
‘And We Went’ Honored by SOUTHEASTERN MUSEUMS CONFERENCE GOLD AWARD
Baton Rouge Gallery – center for contemporary art (“BRG”) is pleased to announce they and their partners at Dialogue on Race Louisiana & BREC - have received the 2024 Southeastern Museums Conference Gold Award in the Over $25,000 budget category for 2023’s And We Went: 60 Years After the Baton Rouge Swim-In. The Southeastern Museums Conference (SEMC) Exhibition Competition annually showcases the best in the profession and provides benchmarks for regional exhibition efforts in southeastern museums and, in 2024, received a record-breaking number of applications from a wide variety of museums across the southeast.
“It is such an honor to have the SEMC recognize this exhibition – which was a true labor of love between BRG, Dialogue on Race Louisiana, BREC, and our many partners – with this year’s Gold Award,” says BRG’s President/CEO Jason Andreasen. “We worked to handle the story of the Baton Rouge Swim-In with extreme care while also working with the show’s curator and all the participating artists to draw direct lines to the present day in a way that authentically spurred conversation. To have our peers across institutions from a 12-state area recognize that is a wonderful honor.”
And We Went: 60 Years After the Baton Rouge Swim-In was held at BRG in July 2023. It was timed to coincide with the anniversary of the demonstration that took place on July 23, 1963 outside the building BRG currently occupies. The exhibition, curated by Jonell Logan, featured local Louisiana-based artists as well as artists from North and South Carolina, California, New York, and Arkansas (drawing attention to the fact that the legacy of segregated swimming is a reality across the U.S.). The exhibition was complemented by programming that included artist talks, panel discussions, a commemorative event, as well as public swimming lessons with four-time Olympic medalist Cullen Jones, the first Black man to hold a world record in swimming.
BRG will continue the conversation spurred by “And We Went” during a special presentation as part of its Sundays@4 series on November 3, 2024 when author Hannah Palmer reads from her new book, “The Pool is Closed: Segregation, Summertime, and the Search for a Place to Swim” (LSU Press). This reading is free and open to everyone, thanks to the support of the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area.
The SEMC Exhibition Competition recognizes exhibitions for overall excellence or for stretching the limits of content and design through innovation. Winning entries were well-designed exhibitions of merit with educational value and demonstrated, respectful treatment of objects. Recipients of the awards were judged by an appointed jury of museum professionals across the region who specialize in curatorial studies and exhibition design.
More about The Southeastern Museums Conference:
The Southeastern Museums Conference (SEMC), a nonprofit membership organization, is an association of museums, museum staff, independent professionals and corporate partners. We focus on the Southeastern United State including: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Puerto Rico, and US Virgin Islands.
For more information about the Southeastern Museums Conference, visit https://www.semcdirect.net/.
AND WE WENT was made possible by:
UPCOMING EVENTS
This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. This program is also funded under a grant from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this exhibition do not necessarily represent those of either the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities. It is also supported by a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council, as administered by the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge.
To learn more about Baton Rouge Gallery and its exhibitions or programming, call 225.383.1470