‘Free as They Want to Be’ ON VIEW ACROSS THREE SITES

opening august 1, Baton Rouge Gallery, Southern University, and West Baton Rouge Museum TO PARTNER

Baton Rouge Gallery – center for contemporary art (“BRG”), Southern University, and The West Baton Rouge Museum are proud to announce they are partnering on a limited-run multi-site exhibition featuring works from some of the biggest names in American art. Free as They Want to Be: Artists Committed to Memory – curated by Deborah Willis, Ph.D. and Cheryl Finley, Ph.D. – is a presentation of contemporary art inspired by historical memory that considers the historic and contemporary role photography and film have played in remembering legacies of slavery. It also examines the social lives of a diverse group of Americans within various places — on the land, at home, in photographic albums, at historic sites, and in public memory.

The exhibition will be on view at all three sites August 1 – 23, 2026, with a variety of programs taking place at each location during the exhibition. Each partnering organization will be offering free admission during the exhibition’s presentation.

Free as They Want to Be: Artists Committed to Memory features works from some of America’s most celebrated contemporary artists, including Bisa Butler, Carrie Mae Weems, Dawoud Bey, Hank Willis Thomas, Radcliffe Bailey, and many others. The exhibition explores a number of themes, including migration, identity, and the African diaspora. The exhibition originated at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center as part of the 2022 FotoFocus Biennial in Cincinnati, Ohio, and has since travelled across the United States before coming to Louisiana’s capital city.

The adaptation of Free as They Want to Be for its presentation in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, will see the works thoughtfully allocated across three historically resonant sites so the original curatorial thesis literally inhabits Baton Rouge’s built memory: (1) BRG, which inhabits a former pool house that was the site of the 1963 Baton Rouge Swim-In protest; (2) Southern University, an HBCU on river-parish land shaped by plantation histories; and (3) The West Baton Rouge Museum, the only museum to trace the bittersweet history of sugar in Louisiana from the colonial period to the present day. Works from Louisiana-based artists will also supplement the works featured in the touring exhibition, adding local perspective and relevance to the exhibition.

ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP

In concert with the exhibition’s originating curators and in partnership across three local organizations situated on historically significant sites, the exhibition is being adapted for a first-of-its-kind, site-specific presentation in southern Louisiana. Led by Baton Rouge Gallery – center for contemporary art (“BRG”), this presentation simultaneously acknowledges the local relevance of the themes addressed by the originating curators while supplementing them with works from respected artists based in southern Louisiana.

Free as They Want to Be: Artists Committed to Memory originated as a FotoFocus exhibition at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Cincinnati, Ohio on the occasion of the 2022 FotoFocus Biennial. The traveling exhibition is organized by Curatorial Exhibitions, Pasadena, California.