A new art exhibit explores contemporary Lumbee identity by bringing together two artists with very different backgrounds and one thing in common: being Lumbee.
“Unique As We Are Alike” is a multidimensional art exhibit at the Center for the Study of the American South featuring the art of Ashley Minner and Alisha Locklear Monroe. Minner is a community-based visual artist and a member of Baltimore’s Lumbee community. Her art featured in this exhibit is called “The Exquisite Lumbees,” a series of portraits of Lumbee people in the Baltimore community. Monroe is an artist from Robeson County, North Carolina and her work features symbolic colorful paintings. Even though these two women live 400 miles apart and have different artistic styles, there are connections between their works.
Host Frank Stasio talks to Monroe and Minner about their art and what contemporary Lumbee identity means to them. “Unique As We Are Alike” is open to view at the Center for the Study of the American South in Chapel Hill until mid December, and the opening reception is October 6 at the Center.