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Art, with a history

'Kikashi' by Ernest Shaw Jr. is part of his exhibit 'Continuous Line.'

Physical traits, like brown skin or blue eyes, are inherited by the transmission of genes. Emotional and mental experiences are also carried from one generation to the next.

Two exhibits, Continuous Line,’ and ‘Creative Quest: Art from the Holocaust’s Second Generation,’ explore that idea. Artists Ernest Shaw Jr. and Miriam Mörsel Nathan draw on their respective ancestral histories to create their work.

Detail of'Zdenka' by Miriam Mörsel Nathan. Her piece is in the exhibit: 'Creative Quest: Art from the Holocaust's Second Generation.' Photo credit: Yonat Lurie
Detail of'Zdenka' by Miriam Mörsel Nathan. Her piece is in the exhibit: 'Creative Quest: Art from the Holocaust's Second Generation.' Photo credit: Yonat Lurie

And curator Kirk Shannon-Butz explains what he calls ‘a Baltimore Movement’ … and curator Toby Brookes looks at art as a way to wrestle with the past:

“We are not survivors and we’re not historians or sociologists, but artists carry with them their parents' legacy, and they express it purely from their hearts and souls.” 

Links: Continuous Line, Creative Quest opening reception, Ernest Shaw, Miriam Mörsel Nathan.

Sheilah Kast is the host of On The Record, Monday-Friday, 9:30-10:00 am.
Melissa Gerr is a Senior Producer for On the Record. She started in public media at Twin Cities Public Television in St. Paul, Minn., where she is from, and then worked as a field producer for Oregon Public Broadcasting in Portland. She made the jump to audio-lover in Baltimore as a digital media editor at Mid-Atlantic Media and Laureate Education, Inc. and as a field producer for "Out of the Blocks." Her beat is typically the off-beat with an emphasis on science, culture and things that make you say, 'Wait, what?'