The Sonja Haynes Stone Center proudly welcomes We Happen To Be, Just Being, Love Expressions to the Robert and Sallie Brown Gallery as its featured exhibition for Fall 2023. A collaborative endeavor with the UNC American Indian Center, it showcases works by artists of Native and Black ancestry whose art deal with the shared histories and intertwined struggles of Black and Indigenous communities.
Monica Rickert-Bolter, a Chicago-based visual artist and journalist, is curator of the exhibition. The collaborative also features works by two other artists including visual artist Paige Pettibon and multi-genre artist Starla Thompson. The exhibit explores themes of soul connections and kinship that transcend preconceptions of race and identitv as well as love and affection centered around family moments and intimate relationships.