Coming Attractions: February 12 Through 28 — What Will Light Your Fire

Bill Marx, The Arts Fuse, February 11, 2023

Ashley Bryan/ Paula Wilson: Take the World into Your Arms, opening at the Colby College Museum of Art on February 17, combines the work of two artists, from two different generations, who have explored issues of identity and cultural history through paintings, collage, relief printing, bookmaking, clothing, and puppets.

The late Ashley Bryan, who taught art at Dartmouth and retired to Little Cranberry Island, Maine, illustrated more than 50 books, many of which he also wrote. Much of his work deals with the African American experience. In 2009 he won the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for his contributions to children’s literature. Wilson, who was born in Chicago and lives in Carrizozo, New Mexico, uses many of the same graphic media to create much larger-scaled installations and relief constructions, many of them exploring the roles of women of color in art history.