An Intimate Exploration of Culture and Memory at NXTHVN

The exhibition Reverence: An Archival Altar features several altars that are dedicated to Black elders who touched lives of those in the New Haven area. Selected artists were given the opportunity to construct an installation that, for a moment in time, resurrects the memories that others carry privately to be shared in our dimensional realm. Each of these artists utilized portrait painting, personal artifacts, photographs, and texts to give us a peek into who these individuals were during their time on Earth. The result is an intimate exploration of various personalities that are as special as they are ordinary; it’s fantastic.

Shining a light on the heroes among us, Reverence: An Archival Altar honors a select few but functions as a catalyst of memory: personal and private, public and collective. The various artifacts lend themselves to fossils dug up, cleaned, and studied with care. Each object is a personal notation that bestows subtle hints into the personality of the subject. Looking at the various altars, we learn that Ms. Juanita Keen Cooper liked strawberries, Mrs. Syla Artis Branch sang on her 90th birthday, and Mrs. Annie Huckaby produced quilts. Here, intimate details reserved for close family and friends are unearthed and made public in a safe space. 

Inside the gallery, in addition to the colorful altars, an olfactory component is evident. Dried flowers and eucalyptus fill the air with a soft floral scent, invoking an environment similar to that of an older relative’s domestic space or church. The scent is metaphorically warm and inviting, adding depth to the overall experience. 

An unspoken, spiritual presence permeates the installation—be it divine energy, ancestral connection, or a sense of something greater. The exhibition focuses on folks who were once local to the area and succeeds in creating a sense of familiarity and knowing. It taps not only into the many unsung voices that still circle amongst us, but also the very humanness of love, loss, age, and respect. It speaks directly to the community but also to the larger context of family—both by blood and choice. The information is didactic and factual, but also highly emotional, presenting details of each subject’s life through narrative interpretation, translated by an artist into a visual experience.

Founded in 2019, NXTHVN has become a vital force in New Haven’s cultural landscape. It offers space, resources, and mentorship to emerging and often marginalized artists whose stories deserve to be told and heard. They also provide youth-based mentorship programs and artist fellowships. Just this year alone, alumni had exhibitions at James Cohan Gallery and Ford Foundation, both in New York. Their model challenges the concept of the provincial with the goal of expansion, removing borders, and circulating names of local artists into the mouths of curators and gallerists globally. 

Artists in Reverence: An Archival Altar include Kulimushi “Kuli” Barongozi, Sydney “Syd” Bell, Marquis Brantley Sr., Shaunda Holloway, Marsh John, Jasmine Nikole, and Mel Phillips. The exhibition opened June 28 and will be on view through November 23, 2025.