Ancestor Roots

We look to our roots, to our foundation to inform our work and guide our future. We are quilters, carpenters, teachers, community-based artists, ceramicists and poets. We are engineers, administrators, executives, attorneys, mentors, parents, and grandparents. And so much more.

Ancestor Chair

Lynda Grace Black

Pro:vision's Portal

Chantelle/Mar8gold

"Pro:vision's Portal represents all the ways our/my ancestors had the vision to ensure that their descendants were provided for in an unknown future and our/my commitment to do the same..."

Pro:vision's Portal represents the foresight of our ancestors to ensure that our collective flourishing is possible even in the face of the unknown and our collective responsibility to ensure the same for ourselves and our descendants.

Magda Martinez

Lo que Llevas

“The skirt is inspired by the skirts worn by Bomba/ Plena dancers which is part of Puerto Rico’s African heritage. Originally a form of story telling and sharing news through song, the images on the skirt follow suit with images of the American invasion after the War with Spain, when it took its an imperial power; the Puerto Rican great migration in the late 40’s and 50’s and the markets of the later 1800’s. All of which inform what it means to be here. What we carry. Making the invisible visible.”

“La falda está inspirada en las faldas que visten los bailarines de Bomba y Plena, expresiones que forman parte de la herencia africana de Puerto Rico. Originalmente concebidas como una forma de narrar historias y compartir noticias a través del canto, las imágenes plasmadas en la falda siguen esa misma tradición: representan la invasión estadounidense tras la Guerra Hispano-Estadounidense —momento en que Estados Unidos asumió el rol de potencia imperial—, la gran migración puertorriqueña de finales de los años 40 y 50, y los mercados de finales del siglo XIX. Todos estos elementos dan sentido a lo que significa estar aquí. A lo que llevamos con nosotros. Hacen visible lo invisible.”

- Magda

A Lifetime in Poetry and Photography

Philip-Paul Grimes

My Mother's Dream

Akuai Ajulu Olok, guest artist

“She came to me with hope in her smile, while holding onto a promise that didn't make a sound. The faith she had to see a harvest so bountiful, all I could say is ‘How Beautiful.’ Yet little did I know about the heartache and the fear latched onto her mind, like a newborn babe she'd call 'mine'. She taught me to smile when I was afraid . She taught me to hope when I couldn't see a way. My mother's kiss held an empty hue for the present. But. My mother's dream held a vibrant future only I could see.” -

Ajulu

Baye Fall

Mamadou

“...being Baye Fall is not about where you are. It is about how you stand. How you work. What you carry inside. Like the Baye Fall cloth, I am made of many pieces - struggle, faith, loss, and hope; stitched together into something whole. Each color carries something: patience, struggle, faith. And like that cloth, my life here is a patchwork; but nothing is wasted. So now, when I ask myself what it means ‘to be here’...”

“...être Baye Fall ne dépend pas de l’endroit où l’on se trouve. Cela dépend de la manière dont on se tient. De la manière dont on travaille. De ce que l’on porte en soi. À l’image du tissu Baye Fall, je suis fait de multiples fragments — de lutte, de foi, de perte et d’espoir — cousus ensemble pour former un tout. Chaque couleur porte en elle une signification : la patience, la lutte, la foi. Et tout comme ce tissu, ma vie ici est un patchwork ; mais rien ne s’y perd. Alors, désormais, lorsque je me demande ce que signifie ‘être ici’... “

- Mamadou

Soul Collage: Harriet Tubman

Athena Dugan

Bendición (2026)

Elianna Pérez , guest artist

“While reflecting on the passing of my Abuelo in August of last year, I thought of connections we have to our elders, through conversations and interactions, through stories and culture. In Puerto Rican culture, we greet and say goodbye to elders and loved ones with a ‘Bendición’ to which we are blessed in return with ‘Dios te bendiga.’

This piece captures that moment I had many times with my Abuelo, as he sat in a chair and I greeted him with a hug and a kiss on the cheek from behind.

Respect, appreciation, and understanding of those who came before us is how we connect to our past and learn more about our identity. I was blessed to experience life with my grandfather. Born in Luquillo, Puerto Rico, he and his family moved to Philadelphia as a part of the mass exodus of Puerto Ricans from the island due to stresses of US colonization. He was the original tie that connects me to the homeland as a second generation Boricua.

“Mientras reflexionaba sobre el fallecimiento de mi abuelo en agosto del año pasado, pensé en las conexiones que nos unen a nuestros mayores: a través de conversaciones e interacciones, a través de historias y cultura. En la cultura puertorriqueña, saludamos y nos despedimos de los mayores y de nuestros seres queridos pidiendo la ‘Bendición’, a lo cual recibimos a cambio la bendición de ‘Dios te bendiga’.

“Esta obra captura ese momento que viví tantas veces con mi abuelo: él sentado en una silla, y yo saludándolo con un abrazo y un beso en la mejilla desde atrás.

“El respeto, el aprecio y la comprensión hacia quienes nos precedieron son la forma en que conectamos con nuestro pasado y aprendemos más sobre nuestra identidad. Tuve la dicha de compartir la vida con mi abuelo. Nacido en Luquillo, Puerto Rico, él y su familia se mudaron a Filadelfia como parte del éxodo masivo de puertorriqueños que abandonaron la isla debido a las presiones de la colonización estadounidense. Él fue el primer lazo que me unió a la patria, como boricua de segunda generación.”

40 Acres

Lynda Grace Black

The 40 Acres vessel memorializes Black farmers and their extraordinary contributions, while also acknowledging the history of displacement, discrimination, and loss that shaped their experiences.

Learn More About This Piece

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Betty Leacraft

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