This groundbreaking exhibition features six large oil paintings by Deborah Patterson that interpret the six “Depths” of Jin Shin Jyutsu (JSJ), a Japanese healing art used to restore harmony to the body by simply holding one’s fingers. Deborah’s nearly fifteen year experience with JSJ has been so positive, her goal is to share it widely. Accompanying the paintings is original music by experimental musician/composer, Charles Emmett Freeman.In 2022 Charles suffered a hemorrhagic stroke, which has led both to an interest in healing and an entirely different approach to his music. For this project, he has tuned his compositions to healing frequencies that can be traced back to Sanskrit chants, 8th c. Gregorian chants, and 11th c. harmonics. Participants will experience JSJ firsthand as they engage with the paintings and music. Both artists received grants from the Maryland State Arts Council to complete their work.

October 26, 1:00-3:00 P.M. Public conversation about the exhibition and the place of the arts in medicine and healing, facilitated by MAM4Healing (Music, Art and Medicine for Healing), a group comprised of Professor of Music at Morgan, Dr. Samuel Springer, medical doctors, Dr. Tramar Murdoch and Dr. Garry Jennings, and artist Deborah Patterson. This event is also made possible by the Free Fall Baltimore grant from Baltimore Promotion and the Arts.

About the Artists: Deborah Patterson completed her art training at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia and holds a masters degree from Yale University’s Institute of Sacred Music and the Arts. A Baltimore native, she returned to the city to collaborate with composer, Robert Sirota, former director of the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, on two large painting and music projects: “Triptych: A Commemoration to the Victims of 9/11” and “The Passion of Jesus Christ: A Visual Oratorio.” Her work is in private collections throughout the U.S., Italy, Greece, and the U.K. Charles Emmett Freeman, also a Baltimore native, recently released an album with musician, Anne Watts, about John Englehart, a lifelong institutionalized man in his seventies, whose life was transformed and healed through his own art making. Charles’ own experience with art and music collaborations include: three compositions as part of a conceptual sculptural installation at the Jewish Museum in Berlin, Germany, and the composition/performance of music with the Baltimore band, Boister, to accompany films at venues throughout Maryland, DC and Virginia.

Temple of The Spirit, by Cynthia Sands

The Tribe

A Sisterhood of Creatives

Espi Frazier

Church Lady Hat #1

Graphite on paper

49 x 39 inches

Reception February 23, 5-8 pm

Eliseo Rosario, Jr.

Nature Photography

Special viewing, Saturday February 18, 1-3 pm

Reception February 23, 5-8 pm

Reception February 9, 6-8pm

Artist - Alma Roberts

Alma Roberts is an alumna of Morgan State University, and a Baltimore-based, self-taught artist. She earned a Master Degree in Public Health from The University of Michigan. Although her father was an artist, Roberts first began painting at age 62.

“My Father was a portraitist and yet our work often deals with similar expressions, responses, and desires. He drew the faces of those fighting and yearning for a new way of life in this country. I paint my way through the issues and stories that have not changed very much for people of color in the U.S. I use a broad pallet of colors to grab the attention of the viewer and then use splattering, markings, pours, and layering to get my messages across. I rely heavily on the use of circles and dots to represent humanity both living and past.”

Painters Alma Thomas, Jack Whitten, Norman Lewis, Joan Mitchell, and Mark Rothko are major influences on Roberts’ work. She notes that although her art addresses ongoing struggles, each work conveys some sense of hope.

Roberts has exhibited regionally in Maryland, Virginia, and Philadelphia, in addition to virtual exhibitions through Maryland State Arts Council and Mozaik Foundation, where she garnered the Special Mention National Prize.

As an arts advocate, Roberts is a founding member of the Joshua Johnson Council at the Baltimore Museum of Art. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African-American History and Culture, and is a Commissioner on the Baltimore Public Art Commission, which oversees and approves the installation and maintenance of public art throughout the city.

Some of the members of African American Quilters of Baltimore

Artist - Ram Brisueño

Works by senior year students in Morgan State University’s Fine Arts Department

Works by Faculty in Morgan State University’s Fine Arts Department

Damien Taylor, Photographer, Masters Degree candidate in Museum Studies

Paintings by Ernest Shaw

Curated by Dr. Schroeder Cherry

This exhibit will feature paintings from the JELMA collection and prints created by Zimbabwe artist Mercy Moyo during an artist’s residency in the U.S.

Exhibit highlighting how the Baltimore community came together during the pandemic

Select photographs from the JELMA collection and Ken Royster.

Curated by Schroeder Cherry, Ed.D

Photographs by students in JELMA’s Youth Art Institute

Curated by Robin Howard

Featuring work by two female Baltimore photographers, Shaun Champion and Alexis Chinery. Accompanied by a catalogue.

This exhibition seeks to capture various dimensions of black women’s contributions in visual arts and give voice to exceptional artists of African descent who are addressing issues of cultural, racial, gender and class in their quest to create dialogue, fight for equality and inclusion and demand change.