A Virtual Visit with Acclaimed Artist Winfred Rembert

Near the end of fall term, art teacher Melissa de Jesus-Akuete hosted a virtual screening of the award-winning documentary, Ashes to Ashes, about acclaimed visual artist Winfred Rembert, followed by a Q&A session with the artist. The event, held for the Artistic Freedom: Liberation Through Art class, was open to the broader community and attracted about sixty faculty members and students.

 

Mr. Rembert grew up in Georgia and spent much of his childhood laboring in the cotton fields. He joined the civil rights movement in his early teens and was later imprisoned and put to work on a chain gang--all before surviving a lynching attempt at age nineteen. 

 

The artist’s works can now be found in contemporary galleries and museums around the world. Groton School's Visual Arts Department hopes to bring Mr. Rembert to the Circle to display his art and to work with students after the pandemic is over and the campus re-opens.