In her sophomore year, Jane Cole ’21 visited the Tang Teaching Museum with Political Science Professor Kate Graney’s Race, State and Power class to view the “Like Sugar” exhibition, which explored the problematic and joyful aspects of sugar through works of art and history.
“That experience got me thinking about how art and museums could be an effective lens for exploring history and politics,” said Cole, an art history major and political science minor.
In summer 2020, Cole participated in Black Lives Matter protests in Saratoga Springs and witnessed the unprecedented marches and rallies nationwide against systemic oppression. Signs, posters, banners and photos, she noticed, acted as vital tools for empowerment, unity and inspiration.
Back on campus in the fall, her experiences with both the protests and her coursework helped form an idea for her capstone project as the 2019-20 Carole Marchand ’57 Intern at the Tang: an exhibition that explores visual symbols of activism in the United States.
Enlivened, Aware, Awake: Symbols of Activism opened in spring 2021 and illustrates the history and contemporary use of the Black Power fist, the LGBTQ Pride flag and the Wide Awakes eye through photographs and artwork.
While the Black Power fist and the Pride flag are widely recognized, the Wide Awakes eye is used by a network of artists and activists committed to using art, education and protest for political and social change. The movement and its visual symbol — an eye — are inspired by a 19th-century abolitionist youth organization of the same name. The show offers viewers a space to reflect on the power of visual symbols to galvanize action and establish identity.
