Chicory Soul of the Butterfly Exhibit

Wed, 05 Feb 2025 13:29:08 -0500

Soul of the Butterfly exhibit is now on view in the Rotunda in the AOK Library at UMBC! Come see the amazing work focused on Baltimore’s Chicory Magazine.

Mark your calendars for our event launch on April 7 at 4:30 PM when we will announce the official merger of Orser Center and Public Humanities while discussing the history of Chicory!

In the meantime, stop by and make some poetry :)

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In the 1960s, Black writers in Baltimore utilized Chicory, a poetry magazine published by the Enoch Pratt Free Library from 1966-1983, as an artistic form for activism. Its five editors published the work by everyone from children to seniors, from social workers to people in prison about everything from bad housing and schools to celebrations of Black joy. Visit this enlightening exhibition that explores this radical publication.

Soul of the Butterfly is a traveling exhibit that uses Chicory to tell the story of how Black artist-activists in Baltimore have been making change since the 1960s. Featuring poetry, artwork, and photos, it reminds us why the Baltimore Afro-American called Chicory “the most authentic microphone of Black folks talking ever devised.” It connects past and present by featuring work by young writers, artists, and creators in Baltimore in conversation with this history.

Soul of the Butterfly was co-curated by a team of students at Rutgers University-Newark, Bard High School Early College Baltimore, Dewmore Baltimore, and Writers in Baltimore Schools led by Dr. Mary Rizzo and Erin Santana.

Special thanks to

Chicory Baltimore

UMBC Special Collections

UMBC American Studies

Markele Cullins, BFA '19