Mississippi Museum of Art’s (MMA) Center for Art and Public Exchange (CAPE) unveiled the exhibition How We Get Over: We Grow On from 2023 national artists-in-residence Sarah Jené and Jasmine Williams. On display through September 3, 2023, We Grow On is an outdoor installation that reminds us we don’t get rid of grief: we grow through it.
This exhibition invites audiences into MMA’s gardens to settle into difficult and variegated experiences and to find new experiences of softness, healing, and resilience. We Grow On uses naturally occurring plants, flowers, and other organic materials to create a meditative place to consider grief and how we continue to grow in the wake of those experiences. Included in the installation are a moss couch symbolizing a place of rest, respite, and recovery, a stained-glass installation, and signage with meditative quotes and works of art to aid in contemplation and remembrance. We Grow On is a place to express grief and help in the healing experience through the installation along with programming and events.
“There is an overwhelming amount of grief today in the Black Community. Our goal is to connect and create spaces for Black people to feel seen and celebrated,” stated both artists Sarah Jené and Jasmine Williams. “We are using various art forms to enlighten and embrace the Jackson community and highlight Black Culture.”
As part of this one-year residency program, the project will culminate in a printed guide composed and designed by Scalawag Magazine’s editorial team. The guide will include writing prompts for people designed to help process grief, embodiment exercises, meditative coloring pages, interviews with the curators, poetry, local grief resources and essays from the grief and love series that help people process personal collective grief. This guide will be available at Great Grief, an event at the Museum on the evening of August 23, local therapists’ offices, community practitioners, and businesses.
Mississippi Museum of Art CAPE Director Monique Davis said, “Grief is vast, and we’ve all lost something. Everyone’s grief is valid, and We Grow On is a space to feel through it. This installation and publication offer an intentional and safe space to grow.”
We Grow On is a free installation and is open to the public during daylight hours in the gardens of the Mississippi Museum of Art in Downtown Jackson.
The components of Sarah Jené and Jasmine’s residency project are as follows: How We Get Over: We Grow On Installation Outdoor installation in MMA’s gardens on view through August 12, 2023. We Grow On uses nature as a backdrop to connect with the cycle of grief and healing. Along with pieces by Sarah Jené and Jasmine Williams, the installation will also include: stain glass installation by Adrienne Domnick, moss couch created in collaboration with Anna Burnett We Grow On Guide Created in partnership with Scalawag Magazine, this guide will help readers on their own grief journey. Authors include:
Shani Peters Amanda Furdge Adrienne Domnick Da’Shawn Harrison Kami Fletcher
Sarah Hairston Jasmine Williams Alysia Nicole Harris Scalawag’s Condolences Guide Local Grief Resources
About the Artists
Sarah Jené is an inspired multidisciplinary artist who uses visual art to highlight Black joy as resistance. She encapsulates the art of Blackness and the beauty of interpersonal relationships to reimagine and celebrate the Black experience. Sarah Jené does this through curated events and her art brand, Thee Black Card, digital and paper collage art. Whether it’s through an installation or conversation, her goal is to connect and create soft spaces for Black people to feel seen and celebrated. Sarah desires to use her various art-forms as a vehicle to enlighten and embrace her community by showcasing Black Culture.
Jasmine Williams is a writer, creative producer, and curator whose passion is creating programming and digital media to highlight the Southern Black experience. Using art as a tool to connect communities and share stories, her goal is to inspire everyday folks to see the art in their existence. Jasmine is the creator of ‘Sipp Talk Media, a digital platform that uses storytelling to shift the narrative of Mississippi, by centering Black experiences and culture. Exploring themes of language, food, history, art, and lifestyle, Jasmine is committed to the visibility of Black Southern stories and our creative legacy.
