“Curator’s Corner” (Addendum to the post “Langston Hughes: Pioneer Poet moves onto the Stark Museum of Art”)

Addendum to my post earlier today: Langston Hughes: Pioneer Poet moves onto the Stark Museum of Art 

I discovered late today that the Stark Museum of Art posted about my quilt Langston Hughes: Pioneer Poet on their Facebook page:

And then I went onto discover the museum’s Curator, Sarah E. Boehme, Ph.D., discusses the quilt in her Curator’s Corner page on the Stark Museum of Art‘s website:

If you go to the Curator’s Corner page and scroll past her February 2, 2024 discussion of John James Audubon, “Maryland Marmot, Woodchuck, Groundhog” you will see the January 15, 2024 entry about my quilt:

---

January 15, 2024

“Langston Hughes, Pioneer Poet”

Langston Hughes (1902-1967) was an author and activist, born in Joplin, Missouri.  He is known for his powerful poetry and as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance, the flourishing of Black culture that developed in New York City.  

Artist Tierney Davis Hogan depicted Langston Hughes for the exhibition “Black Pioneers:  Legacy in the American West.” She wrote an artist statement about this quilt for the exhibition catalog accompanying “Black Pioneers.” 

Tierney Davis Hogan chose to portray Hughes for this exhibition, seeing him as a pioneer poet.  She used a photograph of Hughes by Carl Van Vechten from the Library of Congress and reimagined it.  She layered the likeness over an American flag and an African fabric to visualize Hughes’s identity as an African American.  She stressed his role as a poet by incorporating words of Langston Hughes’s poetry into her art.  Hogan reshaped four lines from the 86 lines of the poem “Let America Be America.”  

Hogan lined the poem’s words along the stripes of the American flag, seemingly to emphasize the call to respond to American ideals.  She arranged the wording so that “pioneer” appears directly over the head of Hughes.  The final two words of the poem, “is free,” appear upon the African fabric, stressing the importance of freedom, especially for African Americans.  Hogan noted the continuing relevance of Hughes poem, which was written in 1935, and encouraged the reading of “Let America Be America” in its entirety. 

The four lines of poetry that Hogan used include a dream reference.  Scholars believe that Hughes’s poetry influenced the imagery in Martin Luther King Jr.’s speeches.  The two men were friends and maintained a correspondence for many years.  Hughes wrote a reference to Dr. King in his poem “Brotherly Love.”

Langston Hughes has a connection to Orange, Texas.  In 1945, he spoke at the Salem Methodist Church.  Local historian Margaret Toal has written about Hughes’ visit for KOGT radio and noted that the newspaper “The Orange Leader” carried a front-page story about the poet’s upcoming visit. During his time in Orange, Hughes autographed a printed copy of one of his poems for local civil rights leader Velma Jeter. 

---

Quite the surprise!

---

Feature image credit: Stark Museum of Art