REFLECTIONS OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT

“In partnership with the Abyssinian Meeting House in Portland, ME my partner in collaboration, Ashley Page and I wanted to bring art into a space that holds so much history and breathe new life into a building that calls for more voices to be added to its chorus. The Abyssinian Meeting House is a vernacular wood-frame building constructed between 1828 and 1831 to serve Portland, Maine’s African American community. Remodeled by the Congregation in the decade after the Civil War, it was used for religious, social, educational, and cultural events until its closing in 1916. Eight years later the structure was substantially renovated into tenement apartments, which were occupied continuously until the building was condemned by the City of Portland in 1991. In 1998 the former meeting house was sold for back taxes to the Committee to Restore the Abyssinian, a non-profit organization formed to preserve and restore the structure. And in April of 2019, they opened their doors and allowed us to fill the space with conversations surrounding hope, perseverance, and the human spirit. Within this show, our goal was to highlight the voices of people within the community who are making under the umbrella of representation, diversity, equity and inclusion.”

- Ashley Page and Alejandra Cuadra