Students are being given the chance to experience historyhands-on at the Union Art Gallery through the end of thesemester.
The Art Gallery is featuring a traveling exhibit of southernAfrican American history from the 1920s, “Whispers from theWalls,” by artist Whitfield Lovell.
Upon entering the gallery, visitors are greeted by a trail ofwood shavings leading to a cabin lined with clothes that representthe lost souls of the people of the 1920s.
Judi Stahl, Creative Arts Center manager, said the clothes thatline the outside of the cabin are similar to the clothes peopleleft outside of the gas chambers during the Holocaust.
“You knew people wore them, even though those people areno longer in existence,” Stahl said.
Three walls of the cabin show a portrait of a man and woman, butone wall shows only the woman.
Inside the cabin, there is a bed to the left decorated in ahand-made quilt with a hat and book on top of the quilt.
Cedeste Lewis, a graphic design freshman and gallery attendantat the Union, said the hat on the bed could symbolize one of threethings — a man who was not supposed to be in the house wasthere, a man who passed away or a man who went to prison.
Lewis said they think the hat symbolizes a man that has passedaway because the portraits on the walls only portray a man at atyoung age, he does appear with the woman in the last portrait ofher at an old age.
The cabin also includes a dining table with red flowers,cigarette tobacco and eating utensils, and a vanity area featuringjewelry, a woman’s hat, hair brushes and perfume bottles.
Stahl said the items Lovell uses in his displays were picked upfrom different flea markets in northern Texas.
The cabin is an interpretation of what the artist thinks hisancestor’s house looked like in the 1920s, Stahl said.
Lewis said she thinks the way Lovell portrays the past isamazing.
“The exhibit is breathtaking,” Lewis said. “Itreally shows African American heritage and how people lived in the20s.”
Stahl said the main reason the committee chose an exhibit likeLovell’s is so people could get a feel for African Americanheritage.
“We try to bring something into the LSU community thatstudents and Baton Rouge residents wouldn’t normally haveaccess to,” Stahl said.
Stahl said the exhibits are funded by the student activity fee,donations, the Union administration and sometimes by grantmoney.
Rebecca Stansbury, an interior design senior who gives tours ofthe exhibit, said a lot of time and research went into setting upthe exhibit.
“It was rough,” Stansbury said. “But it wasdefinitely a learning experience.”
Blanche Baylock, a Baton Rouge resident, said she thinks it is awonderful idea for the University to open its doors to travelingexhibits.
Baylock said the exhibit is an excellent way to tell the storyof African American history, and she thanks the University forallowing the exhibit to share history with the Baton Rougecommunity.
“There are so many stories about African American historythat one building can’t hold it all,” Baylock said.”LSU should welcome more exhibits like this in thefuture.”
“Whispers from the Walls” is running through Dec.12.