“YOU’RE GONNA GIVE ME THE LOVE I NEED”: This work by Mickalene Thomas is part of “Voices in Print: New Jersey Black Women Printmakers Shaping the American Narrative,” on view at the Stockton Education Center at Morven Museum & Garden September 4 through February 28, 2027. (Collection of Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Gift of the Brodsky Center)
Morven Museum & Garden has announced the inaugural exhibition to open in its Stockton Education Center — “Voices in Print: New Jersey Black Women Printmakers Shaping the American Narrative,” curated by Judith K. Brodsky and Rhinold L. Ponder.
Brodsky is a works-on-paper artist and distinguished professor emerita at Rutgers University; Ponder is an artist and the founder and executive director of Art Against Racism. The exhibition focuses on the contributions of Black women artists across generations and features the work of 14 printmakers.
Artists include Emma Amos (1937–2020), Camille Billops (1933–2019), Vivian E. Browne (1929–1993), Nanette Carter (b. 1954), Nefertiti Goodman (b. 1949), Gladys Barker Grauer (1923–2019), Diane Victoria Horn (b. 1945), Carmen Cartiness Johnson (b. 1954), Nell Painter (b. 1942), Sondra Perry (b. 1986), Janet Taylor Pickett (b. 1948), Mickalene Thomas (b. 1971), Nette Forné Thomas, and Bisa Washington (b. 1952).
“These artists use printmaking to create multiple copies of their work, enabling their stories and perspectives, which express the vibrant culture of New Jersey’s diverse communities, to reach far and wide,” said Brodsky. “Echoing how film and video spread ideas, prints bypass gallery walls to ignite conversations. Printmaking ensures that these vital narratives and artistic voices reach every corner of the state and beyond, extending far beyond the studio walls.”
“Voices in Print” at Morven joins a group of exhibitions and programs throughout Princeton under the umbrella “Re-Visioning America: 1776–2026,” a collaboration with the Princeton University Art Museum and Arts Council of Princeton inspired by America’s 250th anniversary to showcase how artists from a range of backgrounds grapple with the complexity of America and its histories. Other partners in the community-based initiative include Art Against Racism, Princeton Public Library, Historical Society of Princeton, William Trent House Museum, the Princeton Garden Theatre, and the Princeton University Humanities Initiative.
“This magnificent collaboration was inspired by the Princeton University Art Museum’s first exhibition of work by Black artists, ‘Fragments of American Life,’ mounted in 1976, which included only one woman artist,” said Ponder. “We decided to showcase women artists of color to reveal how the nation has moved forward toward diversity and recognition of formerly excluded artists in the cultural mainstream.”
“Voices in Print: New Jersey Black Women Printmakers Shaping the American Narrative” will be on view Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. from September 4 through February 28, 2027. Due to its location in the Stockton Education Center, regular hours are subject to change, and visitors are encouraged to check the exhibition webpage, morven.org/exhibitions/voices-in-print, to confirm availability before purchasing admission tickets.
Concurrently on view at Morven are the permanent exhibition “Historic Morven: A Window into America’s Past” and the special exhibitions “Five Independent Souls: The Signers from New Jersey” (through January 17, 2027) and “Northern Family, Southern Ties” (through 2028).
“We are delighted to be collaborating with other Princeton institutions on ‘Re-Visioning America.’ Judy and Rhinold have curated a powerful exhibition that supports our mission of celebrating New Jersey’s cultural heritage,” said Elizabeth Allan, Morven’s deputy director and curator.
This exhibition is made possible by funds from the Mercer County Cultural & Heritage Commission, a partner of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
Morven Museum & Garden is at 55 Stockton Street. For tickets and more information, visit morven.org.