Fogartyville exhibition combats complacency and highlights ‘humanity, equity, justice and a respect for life.’
Johannes Werner
Original Air Date: Feb. 7, 2025
Host: It’s Black History Month, and some institutions are still celebrating it. Tuesday night, the Fogartyville Community Center in Sarasota hosted an exhibition opening featuring the work of photographer Lily Evans.
Lily Evans
Johannes Werner: Evans lives in Land O’ Lakes, just north of Tampa. But most of her street photography has been about people in Miami and other U.S. metropolises. The dozen black-and-white photos she selected for the Fogartyville have one pattern in common: They are of black people, and Evans’ photography connects them to historical events and acts of heroism.
She wants to frame the struggles the subjects of the photos are facing not as a fight against something, but rather as aspirations.
Quoting Miami community organizer Dinizulu Gene Tinnie, Evans frames her exhibition with these words: “This is not a struggle against racism, bigotry, ignorance and greed, but a struggle for humanity, equity, justice and a respect for life.”
Lily Evans: These people have done amazing things and continue. These pictures are just one still. These people are heroic.
“Remember Travon.” Photo by Lily Evans
JW: Her pieces range from a photo titled “Remember Trayvon,” of a young Miami man holding a portrait of Trayvon Martin, to “The Painting that became a Photograph.” It shows the hand of a Miami painter in front of one of his murals. There’s also “Good Trouble”—the photo of a young woman and a child holding a “Protect Our Vote” sign featuring the face of John Lewis.
Michele Redwine is the executive director of the Suncoast Black Arts Collaborative, the organization that brought Evans’ photography to the downtown Sarasota venue. Redwine connected Evans’ art to today’s political struggles.
Michele Redwine.
Michele Redwine: This was actually the reason why we wanted Lily to show during Black History Month, because her photography really continues to remind us of the events and the importance of the struggle and what we as people—all of us—have gone through for freedom and for our rights. When we talk about DEI, everyone thinks it’s about race. When you look at the ten elements, race is down about number five or six. This is really about humanity and people and our opportunity for freedom. One of the things that Lily and I have talked about with Paul is this attitude of complacency. We seem to find ourselves in it in this country. Having an exhibition like this helps us to think and to focus and to remember and to share this information with our families and our friends and our colleagues.
JW: The Suncoast Black Arts Collaborative was created recently, and it seeks to open doors for minority artists in the region. The driving force behind it are almost exclusively Redwine and her husband. Despite physical limitations, they have put together the artist network quite effectively. Their “Art Innovation Zone” exhibition has been shown a dozen times, featuring 25 artists over 12 months in galleries, art, and cultural organizations throughout the region. Twenty-one pieces of art have been sold. The Collaborative does not take any commission from the artists, by the way. Redwine says Sarasota has been a great environment for her initiative.
“From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration.” Photo by Lily Evans
MR: Even though the community’s growing, we’re still small in a way. We’re very respectful of each other, and the arts are very respectful.
JW: One of the Collaborative’s upcoming events is a “Business of Art” workshop for artists to improve their marketing.
MR: Discovering your brand and finding your voice is one of our areas: how to market, communicate, and promote your art business; how to price; how to negotiate; how to close a client.
JW: Lily Evans’ photography can be seen at the Fogartyville Community Center, 525 Kumquat Court, through the end of February. If the venue’s doors are not open, just ring the bell at the radio station at the same address, and someone will be glad to help you tour the exhibition.
Johannes Werner, reporting for WSLR News.
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