HAIRitage | A Cultural Journey & Experience curated by Erin Smith Glenn, MFA

The Dayton Society of Artists is pleased to announce HAIRitage: A Cultural Journey & Experience will be featured in their gallery for the month of March. The artist and exhibition curator, Erin Smith, will be featuring new and existing work that is a celebration of hair and adornment culture, hair as a community resource, Black hair history, BIPOC hair as a form of protest and, of course, hair as art. The opening reception will be on Friday, March 3, 5 to 9 PM at the Dayton Society of Artists and runs until Friday, March 31.

Smith is an artist, art professor at Central State University, mother to three, and small business owner featuring crocheted fashion and accessories. In the fall of 2022, Smith, along with 21 other individual artists, were awarded the Dayton Region Arts Renewal Grant funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and administered by Culture Works. This grant initiative strives to support jobs in the arts sector as a response to and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Smith will be collaborating with local black owned businesses and artists throughout the exhibition while bringing light to the discrimination against race-based hair styles. On Saturday, March 11 from 2 – 4 PM at the Dayton Society of Artists, Smith will lead an artist talk as well as raise awareness about the CROWN Act. CROWN is an acronym for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair, and is a law that prohibits the denial of employment and educational opportunities based on hair texture and protective hairstyles such as braids, locs, twists, or bantu knots. Ohio currently has not passed this law. For more information about the CROWN Act, go to the thecrownact.com.  

After the opening reception, HAIRitage will be open to the public at the Dayton Society of Artists Fridays and Saturdays 12 – 5 PM until March 31, 2023.

Events:

Opening Reception
Enjoy an evening with the artist Erin Smith at the opening of her exhibition, HAIRitage: A Cultural Journey & Experience. Light appetizers, wine, jazz and R&B music will be provided.

When: Friday, March 3, 5 to 9 PM
Where: The Dayton Society of Artists

Artist Talk and Discussion of the CROWN Act
Erin Smith will talk about her work and process as well as raise awareness about the CROWN Act, a law that provides equality for natural hair in the workplace.

When: Saturday, March 11, 2 to 4 PM                                                                    Where: The Dayton Society of Artists

Closing Reception and Live Hair Performance

The last day of exhibition of new works and retrospect exhibition will be on display, as well as a very special live hair performance by Loctician Teasha of Tastefully Loc’d; she will be showcasing her mastery on the hair model of the evening.

When: Friday, March 31, 5 to 9 PM

Where: The Dayton Society of Artists

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For questions or info please contact the gallery at:

937-228-4532 or [email protected]