Determined to Be: The Sculpture of John Rhoden

Join us for this discussion of John Rhoden’s Birmingham, the subject of the BMA exhibition, Determined to Be: The Sculpture of John Rhoden. This program will begin with Rhoden’s early challenges and triumphs, including growing up in Birmingham and attending  Parker High School, and will highlight his later public sculptures in the city when he returned as an acclaimed international artist. 

This panel will feature historian and catalogue author Dr. Sylvea Hollis on Rhoden’s Smithfield community; UAB professor Dr. Penny Seals on Parker High School in the 1930s;  Wayne Coleman, Head of Archives at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, on Rhoden’s sculpture of Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth for the BCRI; and Dr. Brittany Webb, exhibition curator from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, on Rhoden’s early exposure to sculptural practice and his connection to Legion Field. Participants will also receive a map of Birmingham locations discussed during the talk to continue the exploration across the City.