Please join us for the opening of Let Me Think About It, an exhibition created by Carina Maye, that presents five abstract mixed-media tapestries and playful toys to explore ways to tell and embrace personal stories. 

The process is rooted in three core elements: Reflection, Storytelling, and Abstraction. The Let Me Think About It series begins Maye’s journey of deeply understanding personal family histories. Through inquiry, Maye uncovers five themes: Delight, Love, Gather, Dream, and Rise. She learns how those stories situate themselves in American history as she explores collected photographs and oral narratives. Maye employs visual arts learning methods to survey the possibilities for overt and underlying symbolism. In these discoveries, she reconfigures them into personal symbols and abstractions for viewers. 

Each panel rests on one of the five themes and explores individual identity, symbolism, and reflective learning with familial artifacts. Through this body of work, Maye is toiling with the issues of public and private, as she equally considers the private yet public nature of being a teacher, researcher, artist, and member of a growing family unit. During a conference in 2021 and after hearing about Maye’s research exploring her personal experiences, a moderator asked, "How are you going to protect yourself? Since then, Maye has questioned the approaches to learning through memories and personal narratives when one must relinquish control of their stories to be consumed by the public.

 This new series of work builds on her Ritual of Memory Series, which was funded by the 2022 Artistic Dialogue Across Disciplines grant from the Art and Art Education Program at Teachers College. It connects equally to remembering, storytelling, teaching, learning, and archiving family rituals.

-- Exhibition Statement

Bio

Carina D. Maye is an educator and artist from Marietta, Georgia. She is a fourth-generation graduate of Albany State University in Albany, Georgia, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Art. She went on to attain a Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture at Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta, GA. While in her fifth year of college teaching, Carina completed a Master of Arts in Business Design and Arts Leadership at Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta, GA. She is currently completing her fifth year in the Doctor of Art and Art Education Program at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York, New York. As a researcher, Carina Maye is interested in the ways Black artists’ personal experiences intersect with their
educational and professional experiences.

Carina worked with Teachers College, Art & Art Education Macy Art Gallery from September 2018 and served as the gallery coordinator and fellow from August 2019 to August 2022. She serves on the Academic Advising Team working directly with incoming and first year M.A. and Ed.M. students of the Art & Art Education Program. Carina Maye is a research assistant with the institute for Urban and Minority Education working directly under Dr. Davinia Gregory-Kameka. Her commitment to the arts includes serving in a co-directorship for the Community Arts Caucus of National Art Education Association. In 2022, Carina received an artist grant for $4,500 and a culminating exhibition with the Art & Art Education Program. As an artist, she has exhibited her artwork nationally and internationally. Carina’s work was purchased by Albany State University - Albany, GA (2011), Savannah College of Art and Design - Lacoste, France (2012), and Teachers College, Columbia University - New York, NY (2020, 2021).

Where: Offit Gallery

When: September 6 - October 20

Opening Reception & Art Talk: Thursday, September 12th, 5:30-7pm 

Storytelling & Art Workshop: Thursday, October 10th, 6:30-8:30pm

The opening reception and art talk will incude a tour of the artworks exhibited; conversation with the artist Carina Maye, 2024 Myers awardee for the Gottesman Libraries' commissioned art program; and a special performance by Claremont Strings and Ensemble, our longest running professional group of musicians.

Persons not affiliated with Teachers College, Columbia University may RSVP using online support; use the drop down menu to enter your interest and details so that a confirmation e-mail can be sent.

Members and affiliated members of Teachers College, Columbia University may use the registration button below.