The Massillon Museum’s Fred F. Silk Community Room Gallery will host The Art and History of Soul Food from January 21 through March 19. It is the 2023 iteration of a student photography exhibition series, My Community: Through the Eyes of the 21st-Century African American Child.

Sponsored by the Kent Area (OH) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated, the exhibition will feature photography by sixth- to eighth-grade students, in Stark, Summit, Portage, and Medina counties. 

“This collection of photos provides a powerful look at the importance of soul food in telling the story and survival of a people from West Africa, the Caribbean, the rural South, and the eventual migration throughout the Americas,” according to Dr. Kendra Preer, chair of KAC Links Chapter, Arts Facet. 

A reception for the artists will be held on Sunday, February 5, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., concurrent with the opening of the annual  student art exhibition, Celebration in Art, in the Aultman Health Foundation Gallery. The afternoon is free and open to everyone. 

The Links, Incorporated, a not-for-profit corporation established in 1946, consists of more than 15,000 professional women of color in 288 chapters located in 42 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, and the United Kingdom. It is one of the nation’s oldest and largest volunteer service organizations of women who are committed to enriching, sustaining and ensuring the culture and economic survival of African Americans and other persons of African ancestry. The organization’s core values are friendship, integrity, honesty, service, commitment, family relationships, courage, respect for self and others, legacy, confidentiality, responsibility, and accountability.

Fred F. Silk Community Room Gallery exhibits reflect community collaborations such as The Links and the Boys and Girls Club of Massillon.

"The Fred F. Silk Community Room Gallery is the designated gallery for important regional partnerships, especially ones that have an educational component. The exhibition and program benefits students and Museum visitors alike, making historical connections to a vibrant part of our present culture,” says Emily Vigil, MassMu Studio M and Fred F. Silk Community Room Coordinator.  

The Massillon Museum is grateful for operating support from the Ohio Arts Council, ArtsinStark, and the citizens of Massillon, as well as marketing support from Visit Canton. This exhibition is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Museum is located at 121 Lincoln Way East in downtown Massillon.  For more information, call 330-833-4061 or visit massillonmuseum.org. A visit to the Massillon Museum is always free. 

Media Contacts:

Alexandra Nicholis Coon, Executive Director  -  330.833.4061 x111 

Margy Vogt, Public Relations Coordinator  -  330.844.1525