By: Aiza Akhtar How does one overcome obstacles? How does one find their voice? These are the burning questions that we as humans long to answer. On Thursday, July 1st, all GSE students were given insight on how to answer such questions through the inspiring story of guest speaker Endia Beal. Endia Beal is an African-American artist, curator, and educator based in North Carolina who is known around the world for her visual representations of stigmatized individuals and communities, specifically discussing black neighborhoods and black women who work in corporate offices. Her work has gained recognition in various distinguished platforms such as the Nasher Museum at Duke, the New York Times, the National Geographic, and numerous others. Additionally, Beal has worked as an associate professor of art at Winston-Salem State University. Beal initially embarked on the path of art when faced with the disconsolate, universal feelings of tragedy and loss. Her first love, Shawn, was killed by gun violence at the young age of sixteen. She couldn’t express the ineffable emotions she experienced from this tragedy through words, so she expressed them through art instead. From the moment Beal stamped Shawn’s memory into permanence through art, she realized that art was more than just her happiness: it was the air she needed to breathe. It was her life. Even more accurately, Beal’s art was not just her life, but the lives of those around her as well. The lives of the marginalized, the unheard, and the “invisible.” For example, in one of Beal’s first art albums, called The Echoes of the SouthSide, she photographed the various individuals who encompass the stigmatized area of South Durham. By doing so, Beal successfully conveyed the message that beneath Durham’s external correlations with drugs and gun violence lay human beings with intricate stories.
At this point, Beal was at the young age of twenty-one and her success had in no way reached its peak, despite the honorable recognition that The Echoes of the SouthSide gained. Rather, Beal’s success followed her into graduate school at Yale and augmented exponentially. In this new setting, Beal soon realized disconnect was ubiquitous, and it plagued all types of cities, even those denoted by a prestigious Ivy League school title. Right outside the gates of Yale were scattered communities of disenfranchised black families and rampant gun violence. In The Life We Live, Beal photographed these families in order to raise their muted voices—voices that expressed the beautiful complexity of human emotions, including love and passion, loss and loneliness. Beal also saw a certain disconnect between herself and her white counterparts at her corporate job. For example, the men would often objectify her and yearn to touch her hair, simply because they believed that touching her hair equated to touching her—a person so different from everyone else that she was almost considered alien. For the first time, Beal captured a generation of women who could overcome stigmatization. Beal gave a thorough and well-spoken answer encouraging all women to always support and edify one another whenever they sense disrespect and offense. Another question that was asked was about those who wish to pursue art as a career. Beal answered beautifully by quoting Maya Angelou, who once said that you can make work out of anything you are obsessed with as long as you are equipped with the tools of knowledge. Endia Beal’s work has an overarching theme of authenticity, and that truth can sometimes be uncomfortable, especially for those unwilling to learn. Through each new hidden truth that Beal uncovers with each of her pieces, she allows her audience to grow in empathy and connection. Simply put, Endia Beal’s art is not only a source of talent and beauty, but one of education, illumination, and inspiration. Comments are closed.
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ABOUT THE EAST SIDE STORYThe ESS is the story of us... the story of the GSE. Our goal is provide the Governor's School East with coverage of everything GSE -- events, interest pieces, highlights, and issues. After reading the East Side Story, we hope you're informed, enlightened about the happiest day at Governor's School East. CATEGORIES
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