‘Voices of Change’ is an annual educational outreach initiative first launched by the Division of Libraries, Archives and Museums (DLAM) in partnership with the V.I. Department of Education’s Department of Cultural Education in November 2021 honoring the legacies of David Hamilton Jackson’s activism. The exhibit will have an opening event from 5-7 p.m., Thursday, April 25, at Fort Frederik Museum.
This annual student art project prompts students to step into their power as agents of change in their communities — much like D. Hamilton Jackson — by using their voices through creative expression.
This year’s exhibit features social justice collages, symbolic self-portraits, and linocuts depicting Virgin Islands’ heroes, created by Niarus Walkers’ students from St. Croix Central High School and Suenita Banwares’ Good Hope Country Day School’s middle and upper school students.
Over the school year, Division of Libraries, Archives and Museums Chief Curator Monica Marin visited several schools to conduct art workshops such as the “I AM David Hamilton Jackson” social justice collages lesson with Good Hope Country Day School students and symbolic self-portraits with St. Croix Central High School students.
Marin also developed and led a week-long mini-gusto intensive entitled “Future Culture Bearers and Storytellers” with Good Hope Country Day students who met with important Crucian historians, culture bearers and artists at historic sites where they learned about the important role of oral traditions, cultural legacies and visual storytelling.
Students then created artworks inspired by their interviews and research. This year’s exhibit is the culmination of all those projects with Central and Good Hope Country Day School students and a series of prints made by Central H.S. students.
The show is open to the public during normal Fort Frederik hours from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, for those who cannot make the opening. The exhibit will end June 21. Call Fort Frederik at 772-2021 to schedule a tour for students.
