Inaugurating Brown Arts' IGNITE Series, Varying Shades of Brown is a campus-wide project featuring major installations and programs by artist Carrie Mae Weems (b. 1953, Portland, OR), whose 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 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' 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. Learn more about the project here.

Brown Arts' IGNITE Series uplifts the spirit of artistic collaboration across Brown, Providence, the Rhode Island region, and beyond. Ignite your creative curiosity through this multi-year series of programs, activations, interventions, and investigations. 

About Carrie Mae Weems

Carrie Mae Weems, inaugural Agnes Gund Professor of the Practice of Arts and Social Justice at Brown University (Spring 2023), is a conceptual artist who unpacks and confronts constructions of race and femininity in the pursuit of new models to live by. Grounded in the specificity of her lived experience as a Black woman but universal in its explorations of family relationships, cultural identity, power structures, and social hierarchy, her artistic practice is primarily photographic but also incorporates text, fabric, audio, installation, and video. Through image and text, film, performance, and her many convenings with individuals across a multitude of disciplines, Weems has created a complex body of art that investigates family relationships, gender roles, racism, and the consequences of power. Weems has received a multitude of awards, grants, and fellowships including the MacArthur Award and the National Endowment of the Arts, among many others. She is represented by Jack Shainman Gallery and is currently the Artist in Residence at Syracuse University. She lives in Syracuse, New York with her husband Jeffrey Hoone who directed Light Work for almost four decades.

Locations and Hours for Carrie Mae Weems: Varying Shades of Brown
*Admission to the Bell is always free. Advance registration for attendance is appreciated but not required. If you have access needs, please contact us at [email protected].

Lincoln, Lonnie and Me—A Story in Five Parts
Dates: September 18 – December 3, 2023
Location: David Winton Bell Gallery, Albert and Vera List Art Center, 64 College St, Providence, RI
Hours: Daily 11am – 7pm; Thursdays 11am – 9pm

Usual Suspects
Dates: September 18 – December 3, 2023
Location: Lobby Gallery, Albert and Vera List Art Center, 64 College St, Providence, RI
Hours: Daily 11am – 7pm; Thursdays 11am – 9pm

Land of Broken Dreams: A Case Study
Dates: September 18 – December 3, 2023
Location: Cohen Gallery, The Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts, 154 Angell St, Providence, RI
Hours: Daily 11am – 7pm; Thursdays 11am – 9pm

Cyclorama: The Shape of Things, A Video in 7 Parts
Seat or Stand and Speak
Dates: November 9 – December 3, 2023
Location: The Lindemann Performing Arts Center, 144 Angell St, Providence, RI
Hours: Daily 11am – 7pm; Thursdays 11am – 9pm