Beacon Gallery residency features the work of photographer Cheryl Miller and culminating exhibition ‘If We Stand Tall’

BOSTON, July 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Beacon Gallery is pleased to announce its upcoming exhibition Cheryl Miller: If We Stand Tall, featuring the work of longtime New York photographer Cheryl Miller, now based in the Boston area. Miller has been invited to be Beacon Gallery’s Artist-In-Residence for Summer 2023, from July 21st to August 27th, 2023. The public is invited to a culminating exhibition of the residency, entitled If We Stand Tall from August 24th to the 27th with an opening reception on August 25th, from 6 to 8 pm. 

Miller’s studio practice will be open to the public in its incubation phase prior to the official exhibition. Miller will exhibit images, audio, and text-based narratives, and guide the installation of a community-based ancestral altar. Visitors will be invited to contribute flowers, cloth, pictures, bottles of oil or liquor, coconuts, photos, and unlit candles to the altar installation on days the gallery is open to the public. Ancestral altars have a deep history in the Yoruba tradition that has many tributaries: Palo Mayombe, Voodoo, Ifa, Santeria, and even unnamed and hidden practices adopted by African Americans who survived the Trans-Atlantic slave trade to reconnect to their ancestry. The community altar will be celebrated on August 27th as part of the If We Stand Tall exhibition. 

Following the dates of Miller’s residency (July 21 – August 24), Cheryl Miller: If We Stand Tall (August 25 – 27, 2023) will officially open to the public as the culminating residency exhibition. If We Stand Tall comes from the African Proverb: “If we stand tall it is because we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us.” This proverb encapsulates Miller’s role as a story keeper and archivist for family and community. If We Stand Tall will feature works from Miller’s archive of Black figurative film-based photography narrating decades of culture and cultural icons. 

Multiple events are planned in conjunction with the residency and exhibition. August’s First Friday and Studio Sundays will open Miller’s residency to the public (August 4, 6, 13, and 20^th). The exhibition (August 25^th-27^th) will offer standard gallery hours (12-6 Fri, 12-5 Sat, 11-4 Sun), and an opening on Friday, August 25^th (6-8 pm), which is free and open to the public. In addition, Cheryl Miller will be joined by photographers Marilyn Nance and OJ Slaughter for a Photographer Panel, moderated by Dr. Jovonna Jones of Boston College, on Tuesday, August 8th at 6:30 pm. Free Registration for the event, generously hosted at Boston University’s School of Visual Arts (808 Commonwealth Avenue), is available via Eventbrite. 

Current list of open days and events:
August 4 (5-8 pm) First Friday
August 6 (11-4 pm) Studio Sunday
August 8 (6:30 pm, doors at 6) Photography Roundtable with Cheryl Miller, Marilyn Nance & OJ Slaughter @ Boston University, 808 Commonwealth Ave, Room 401-11
August 13 (11-4 pm) Studio Sunday
August 20 (11-4 pm) Studio Sunday
August 25 (12-6) Gallery Hours
August 25 (6-8 pm) Opening Cheryl Miller: If We Stand Tall
August 26 (12-6) Gallery Hours
August 27 (11-4 pm) Gallery Hours

For more information on the exhibition or events, email [email protected] 

About Cheryl Miller

As a former City and Regional Planner, Cheryl Miller focuses on the economic, social, political, and physical development of communities, neighborhoods, and the people that make them thrive. Cheryl does this by “capturing images of African Americans viewed through a kaleidoscope of everyday experiences: the rites, rituals, social norms, mores, how people live, work, play, conduct business, raise children, build families and community, create art, educate, worship, entertain, invent…[despite] of the history of hundreds of years of enslavement, and existing racist systems that have not thwarted our efforts to flourish magnificently.” Cheryl insists that “honoring and revering our ancestors” is the catalyst for this success.

Although self-taught, Cheryl was an Adjunct Lecturer in photography at The Tisch Department of Photography and Imaging at New York University, The City University of New York, and taught in the NYC Public School System. These images have been exhibited internationally and are published in Committed to the Image: Contemporary Black Photographers, FREEDOM: A Photographic History of the African American Struggle, Reflections In Black – A History of Black Photographers 1840-Present, A History of New York In Images – CITYSCAPES, and Black: A Celebration of A Culture, Long Shot, and Black New York Photographers of the 20th Century. The work will be featured in ReFraming: REFLECTIONS IN BLACK by Deborah Willis in the Spring of 2023. View Cheryl’s website or follow on Instagram for more information. Currently, Miller is working on a book project, If We Stand Tall…Recollections of Spirits Past, (KMW Studio Publishing).

About Beacon Gallery 

Beacon Gallery is a contemporary art gallery located in Boston’s South End, providing a platform for emerging and established artists to deliver thought-provoking solo and group shows, and community-building events. As a partner to greater Boston’s artistic community, Beacon Gallery is committed to producing thoughtfully curated exhibitions that showcase original conceptual art and share compelling messages and unique perspectives. It aims to make art accessible to the general public, as well as collectors and institutions locally, nationally, and globally. For more information go to our website and follow us on Instagram. 

SOURCE Beacon Gallery