Welcome to Philadelphia Jazz Project
POOL Exhibition
Aug 21, 2021
POOL
Opening September 3, 2021
Fairmount Water Works
640 Waterworks Dr., Philadelphia, PA 19130
(In Fairmount Park Near Phila Museum Of Art)
A project by Victoria Prizzia of Habithèque Inc.
IMPORTANT UPDATE!!!
***Due to damage from flooding, exhibition is temporarily closed***
***In the meantime, DOWNLOAD FREE POOL EXHIBITION MAGAZINE HERE***
Coming in September 2021 is an interesting exhibition. Entitled, POOL: A Social History of Segregation is a multi-disciplinary museum exhibition exploring the history and contemporary implications of segregated swimming in America. Set in the former Kelly Pool situated within the National Historic Landmark Fairmount Water Works, POOL will investigate the role of public pools in the United States with the goal of deepening understanding of the connection between water, social justice and public health. Visitors to the 4,700 square foot exhibition will be immersed in a curated collection of art installations and experiences, including rarely seen archival film footage and photographs.
This exhibition is made more interesting because Philadelphia Jazz Project director and interdisciplinary artist, Homer Jackson is among a group of Philadelphia artists invited to interpret the ideas inherent in the exhibition into newly created works of art. Jackson created; Whispers From The Deep: 15 video vignettes exploring the broader implications of America’s historic dance with racism by investigating what happens to a people's spiritual, psychological, cultural and social connections to water, when they are forcibly disconnected from it.
We asked PJP's Homer Jackson about this exhibition and his work included in it.
PJP: Can you briefly describe your artistic direction/philosophy?
Homer Jackson: Quiet as it's kept, I'm not a musician. I was trained as a visual artist, a printmaker to be exact. However, I define myself as an interdisciplinary artist. Essentially I use various artistic disciplines, like sound and music, word and text, objects, imagery and media, even public art elements and audience participation to create art works and experiences for audiences.
PJP: Tell us about your most recent event and what inspired it?
Homer Jackson: The POOL exhibition is a fantastic opportunity that touches a deep reservoir of ideas and histories. The project opens up external and historical things, as well as a very mystical and personal space for me. Those experiences shaped the 15 vignettes that I developed within my piece, Whispers From The Deep. I wanted to try to go beyond the statistics and place a face, a story on what really lies there.
PJP: Who are the folks participating in this project with you?
Homer Jackson: My creative team includes, mediamaker and musician Emily Zeitlyn (featured on our Walt Whitman Mixtape Series), illustrator and animator, Gabrielle Patterson and PJP graphic designer Lynn Washington. In addition, a bunch of folks incluidng pastors Aisha Brooks-Johnson and Nick Taliaferro, as well as artists Sherman Fleming and Akinseye Brown, musicians Tara Middleton, Laura Hill, Kenneth Burney and Matthew Palmer, poet Warren Longmire and others participated in the making of this work.
PJP: If folks want to find out more about this exhibition, how might they do that?
To learn more about the POOL exhibition, visit Habithèque’s website and/or Fairmount Water Works website.
PJP: What does this have to do with Jazz?
Homer Jackson: This exhibition deals with critical issues of the 20th century that no Black person in America could escape from and the long term ramifications of them. As Jazz was born during of the same time period, it's part of the backdrop of the culture. A place that sticks deep in my mind as a source for the connection between the music and this exhibition is Chicken Bone Beach, Atlantic City, NJ. Chicken Bone Beach was one of the few spaces where Black folks could partake on the beach and the water on the Jersey shore. In its heyday, a who's who of Black artists, athletes and entertainers would be present and the music was always in top form. So, yes. This exhibit, although not obviously related, is totally related to the music.
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOMER JACKSON
POOL
Opening September 3, 2021
Fairmount Water Works
640 Waterworks Dr., Philadelphia, PA 19130
(In Fairmount Park Near Phila Museum Of Art)
A project by Victoria Prizzia of Habithèque Inc.
IMPORTANT UPDATE!!!
***Due to damage from flooding, exhibition is temporarily closed***
***In the meantime, DOWNLOAD FREE POOL EXHIBITION MAGAZINE HERE***
Whispers From The Deep was created as a component of the exhibition, POOL: A Social History of Segregation in 2021. Special thanks to exhibition, creative director and lead designer, Victoria Prizzia of Habithèque Inc and Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center. Major support for POOL has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, with additional support from the Philadelphia Water Department.
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Philadelphia Jazz Project is a sponsored project of the CultureWorks | Greater Philadelphia, with funding provided by The Philadelphia Foundation.
