PICTURES and PROGRESS
Amanda D. King is pictured above with two works from her “Locusts” exhibition, which is on view at Foothill Galleries through January 3, 2023. (Photograph courtesy of Amanda D. King.)
I will always be grateful for the colleague who introduced me to the art and activism of Amanda D. King and Shooting without Bullets’ “In Our DNA” Project, a public celebration of African American excellence through displays that combined photography and text. That introduction took place during the early summer of 2020, just a few months after the arrival of COVID-19 in the United States and the forced closing of schools, businesses, houses of worship, museums, and other venues. Today, King’s art continues to educate, amaze, and inspire viewers, readers, and listeners alike.
This month, for example, I experienced King’s “Locusts” exhibition in the Foothills Galleries in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. For this multimedia installation, King combined photography, hand-written letters, and audio excerpts from the memorial service that celebrated the life of her grandfather, William C. King, Sr., who succumbed to COVID-19 in 2021. The intimacy of the gallery space and the soundscape — which included the spoken words of relatives and gospel music reflecting the vocal performance styles of the Black Church — created a setting that was both solemn and sacred. The framed letters, primary documents from other members of the King family, included personal stories about Mr. King’s well-lived life.
King, a native of Pittsburgh, PA, earned her undergraduate degree in art history at Bryn Mawr College. Subsequently she earned a law degree at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. She now lives in Cleveland where she manages her studio practice and serves as creative director of Shooting Without Bullets.
Amanda D. King, shown here with veteran news anchor Leon Bibb at the Cleveland History Center's September 1, 2022 awards program. [Photograph / Dave Holly]
For King, 2022 proved to be both busy and productive. While co-leading a summer 2022 Anisfield-Wolf seminar at Case Western Reserve University, she introduced participants to educational materials that document the power of photography in African American history. On September 1, King was one of nine individuals honored for excellence in photography / photojournalism at the Western Reserve Historical Society’s Cleveland History Center.
Cover image for Aperture's special Summer 2016 "Vision & Justice" issue.
As one of the participants in the summer seminar at CWRU, I found King’s use of Vision & Justice to be especially noteworthy. A special summer 2016 issue of Aperture that was guest edited by Harvard University’s Dr. Sarah Elizabeth Lewis, this publication explores the role of art and culture in the ongoing struggle to make ours a more just society. Contributing writers include Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Dr. Deborah Willis.
Among other things, the first publication and related events inspired another spring 2019 volume, Vision & Justice: A Civic Curriculum. This free downloadable publication contains works by many well known and emerging writers, and even includes a “Pictures and Progress” poem by Amanda Gorman, who was an undergraduate student at Harvard when the 2019 work appeared. For more information on the Vision & Justice Project, please visit https://visionandjustice.org/
Over the next several months, individuals in Ohio will also have several opportunities to learn more about King’s art. The “Locusts” exhibition continues (by appointment only) through January 3, 2023; inquiries should be directed to Michael Weil at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. From January 20 through March 4, 2023, King’s work will be on view at the McDonough Museum of Art in Youngstown. On Sunday, January 22, 2023, the artist will participate in Changing Lenses: Activist Photography of Amanda D. King and Dan Levin, a panel discussion, at the Maltz Museum in Beachwood. For more information on these activities, please visit the artist’s website.
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Regennia Williams is Distinguished Scholar of African American History and Culture, Western Reserve Historical Society.
