Asst. Professor Donald Quist encourages students to explore ekphrasis with Impressions: Black Spirit in America
Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Donald Quist partnered with the Museum of Art & Archaeology this fall to curate Impressions: Black Spirit in America, an exhibit that Quist says “highlights how Black experiences have shaped American history and culture.”
Featuring works from artists of diverse backgrounds, Quist explains that the exhibit “explores how art, poetry, writing, and other forms of expression embody the shared experiences of communities across the African diaspora as part of the collective story of Missourians and Americans.”
Quist developed a creative writing course to work in tandem with the exhibit, in which students discussed and researched works of art. Students then prepared their own written impressions about selected works, excerpts of which are displayed on special labels in the gallery. Poetic and meditative, these student impressions illustrate the exhibit’s invitation to reflect on our interconnectedness.
“An artist making art about another artist—there is something so beautiful in this cycle of inspiration, one creation resulting in another.” wrote Taylor Kelley, a senior in English, in conversation with Beulah Ecton Woodard’s terracotta sculpture “Maudelle.”
Reflecting on the stark primary colors of Burnis Calvin Day’s landscape “Metro-City,” Gabrielle Conley, a senior in English asked, “In a city full of brave people, why does everyone just stand and watch?”
Among the student impressions, is a piece by English PhD candidate Hana Smail, who drew inspiration from Faith Ringgold’s painting “The Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles.” Smail was particularly drawn to the vivid sunflowers spangling Ringgold’s work which echo the sunflowers lining the road to his family’s country home in Kurdistan.
“They are like unfinished manuscripts,” Smail wrote of the family farm and the road to it, which he visits now in memory, “continuously recording my family’s untold history and their attachment to a land that holds, in its heart, a precious but painful past.”
From Willie Cole’s vivid multimedia triptych “Man, Spirit, Mask” to Thomas Hart Benton’s lithe, nearly liquid “Portrait of a Musician,” Impressions showcases a range of perspectives, drawing from the Museum of Art & Archaeology’s permanent collection with additional artwork loaned from the Art Bridges Foundation in Bentonville, Arkansas.
The opening reception for Impressions was Thursday, November 20, 5:30-7:30pm. Free and open to the community, the event was attended by upwards of 180 people. The evening featured spoken word and musical performances by Quists’s friends at OneMic, which he describes as “a creative collective showcasing Columbia-based artists.” In keeping with the exhibition’s theme, performers used their creations to engage in conversation with works on display.
Video footage of the event, including an audio sample of OneMic performances, is available on the English Department’s website.
“I think our last hope is to look for something in that amazing gaze of hers,” wrote Saylor Campbell, a senior in the School of Journalism, reflecting on the photograph "Nine-year-old Caroline Michel" by Keith Hadley. “I mean, don’t we all share the same eyes as children?”
Impressions: Black Spirit in America will be on exhibit at the Museum of Art & Archaeology through May 2026. Financial support for Impressions: Black Spirit in America was provided by Art Bridges and Missouri Humanities.
