Curvature of the Mind

Curvature of the Mind is an interactive exploration of Determined To Be: The Sculpture of John Rhoden, led by Andrea "Philly" Walls, the founder of the Museum of Black Joy. Looking at the life and work of the artist in the context of the times he was creating in, we will step into a poetic timeline that includes The Harlem Renaissance and Black Arts Movement as a framework for conversation. Centering joy and uplifting a Black aesthetic gaze, participants will be invited to create a collective poem/multimedia collage to commemorate the experience. 

The Museum of Black Joy is a borderless refuge for the observation, cultivation, celebration and preservation of Black Joy. 

Andrea “Philly” Walls is a multidisciplinary artist, informed and inspired by the writers and visual artists of the Harlem Renaissance and Black Arts Movement. She is among the first cohort of artists to be designated as Philadelphia Cultural Treasures and is serving in her third year as Artist in Residence at Drexel University’s, Writers Room. She is pleased that her writing, scholarship, and visual art have been supported by organizations she admires, including the Leeway Foundation, VONA/Voices Workshops for Writers of Color; Black Public Media/MIT Open Documentary Lab, Hedgebrook Residencies for Women Authoring Change; The Colored Girls Museum; Writers Room at Drexel University; The Studio Museum of Harlem; The Women’s Mobile Museum, Eastern State Penitentiary; Mural Arts Philadelphia; and FabYouth Philly.  In addition to The Museum of Black Joy, Andrea is the creator and curator of The D’Archive.com, author of the poetry chapbook, Ultraviolet Catastrophe (Thread Makes Blanket Press) and the digital web-collection, The Black Body Curve. com

Class size: 20 people. Museum admission is included in the cost of registration. 

Graphic image: Andrea Walls, 2023