This week on WCLK's The Local Take I speak with Nafisa Valita Sheriff, the photographer and creative force behind the The Silver Living Legacies Extraordinaire: Women of Distinction Photographic Art Exhibit that is running through November at the Auburn Avenue Research Library.
I ask Ms. Sheriff how this project came to be and she shares that her desire to curate these photographs started over 10 years ago and was interrupted when her mother became sick. While caring for her mom, she was encouraged more to do the project. After her mother passed she allowed herself to grieve and then began to focus on this labor of love.
She talks about the generation of women with "silver" in their hair, who survived Jim Crow, the cruelty of segregation and racism to become pioneers. From Xernona Clayton and Monica Pearson to Mayor Patsy Jo Hilliard and Mayor Shirley Franklin, she explains that these women who are still living have wisdom to share with the rest of us. The exhibition will be turned into a coffee table book and additional photographs are still being captured.
Nafisa Valita Sheriff shares that once she began to focus on her passion, the universe conspired to make her project grow beyond the exhibition. There will be an Artist Reception on Sunday, Oct. 6th from 3:30 - 5pm at the Auburn Avenue Research Library, which will include the 24 women who are continuing to make a difference in our community.
There will also be an artist talk on Oct. 25th and a closing reception on November 10th.
You are encouraged to attend the exhibition and bring young people so that they can learn about the wisdom of their elders.
For more information on Nafisa Valita Sheriff
For more information on The Auburn Avenue Research Library and Exihibition