Varying Shades of Brown is a project featuring major installations and programs across the entire campus of Brown University by the acclaimed artist Carrie Mae Weems (2006 Fellow and AAR Trustee). Weems, who is known for her conceptual, image-focused work, has been revered for over four decades.
Through a variety of mediums and activations, Weems renders historical moments uncanny to draw out the complexities of racial and gendered violence. Integrating artistic practice and arts research, Weems—in her role as the first Agnes Gund Professor of the Practice of Art and Social Justice at Brown Arts Institute (BAI)—collaborated closely with students in her course “Artist@Work: Carrie Mae Weems” to develop Varying Shades of Brown.
Sites include the David Winton Bell Gallery and List Lobby Gallery in the List Art Center; Cohen Gallery in the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts; the Main Hall and Attanasio Family Promenade of the new Lindemann Performing Arts Center; and various public spaces across campus.
Across the 2023 fall semester, Carrie Mae Weems and Brown Arts Institute invite artists, thinkers, and waymakers to engage in an array of conversations, performances, and gatherings, including one of Weems’s large-scale convenings. Members of the Brown and Providence communities, and beyond, are encouraged to join these ongoing dialogues and debates around the career-spanning themes of her work.