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IBe Crawley

@ibearted

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Arts & Education. ✏️✊🏾🎨 create, collect, exhibit, & record African American art and stories.

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In the Mississippi River by Mavis Staples… by @ibearted

Shout out to Jose Resndiz and his artist book on the Chicago High School uprising. Jose’s archival work fills a gap. Millions of children and families will began to research and tell their own stories, because Jose did. This powerful tool for the American Story is accessible and on view for 20 months. Congratulations Jose Resndiz by @ibearted

Suzanne Coley was @NMWA exhibition Holding Ground. It was the reopening of the museum in 2023. It is an honor to be included an exhibition with her once again. by @ibearted

@ the Smithsonian Museum of American History, it is an honor to be included with some of my favorite book artists- Alisa Banks, Julie Chen, Suzanne Coley and more. To be in community with these makers is a dream come true. I’m dancing on the mountain top. by @ibearted

@The Smithsonian Museum of American History, where millions of visitors come from around the world, and from every state in the nation.
It is an honor to have my artist book 11033 on exhibition for 20 months at the American History Museum.
11033 was selected to represent American Stories, an exhibition featuring only 50 works in the vast collections.
While at the same time, @Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, 11033 is also exhibited. This important book is also exhibited @thebritish.library in London.
This book was made possible by a 2021 artist residency @wsworkshop. I am forever grateful. by @ibearted

Booking: Black Book Artist exhibition at the Bainbridge Art Museum in Washington State. @BIMA the honoring of an international representation of black books elevates our work in a magnificent way.
Thank you to the Cynthia Sears Book Arts Collection for the honor. I’ll share more soon. by @ibearted

Unknown: A Funerary Brier

The nesting boxes are dwellings- first the water, then soil and finally the archive. A circle formed by black eyed peas are all ring shouts dancing around the coffin, in the tradition of enslaved African people. The broken fish skeleton replaces the chicken bones found surrounding the child’s coffin of 1769, found buried beneath the floor boards, of the room shared by an enslaved family.

There is a vulnerability in the material, the stitched handmade and indigo dyed paper. Similar to the Ruins produced by Beverly Buchanan, this funerary bier titled Unknown is a sculpture. Unknown represents the ongoing ritual of burial and the celebration of life common in the Black community, perhaps other communities as well.

The materials interact intentionally, the presence of death- the spirit outside of the body, yet still in transition to its final resting place is central to grief and release. The living humans- those whose breath/spirit is contained within their bodies, they are required to make the final arrangements.

The narrative is hand-printed on handmade paper stitches the events, as the ‘arrangements’ order the spirit of the dead before rest. The spirit is impermanent and refusal to leave until a space has been cleared for its movement. This sculpture is about closure. by @ibearted

The new Daisy Lane Studio on Bainbridge Island promises to be a leader in book arts. It was my joy to set type and make impressions with the support of Rick and Silas. by @ibearted

Extending the spirit of America’s 250th, these works invite audiences to explore the stories, histories and traditions that encompass the nation. More information about the exhibition is available on the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives website. by @ibearted

The Smithsonian American Art and Portrait Gallery Library, will feature 11033 in the upcoming exhibition at the Smithsonian, American Stories: Artists’ Books from the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives, opening in October in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. This intimate exhibition will showcase more than 50 distinctive artists’ books from the collections of the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives (SLA) that explore American identity and delve into personal, collective and national histories. Opened Oct. 8th, 2026. by @ibearted

Thank you to #BIMA for including my work in this important exhibition and catalogue. I will share more images soon. by @ibearted

Thank you BIMA for featuring the work titled Rage, on the cover of this catalogue. Sarah Matthews and I sent a year traveling to and from Pyramid Atlantic to make paper using old linen fabric and cotton. Then came months of printing on the hand made paper and binding the collection. The greatest challenge was box making, which I’m thankful for Erin, Aram and Sarah’s guidance in learning.
I’m excited to share this catalogue of BIMA’s upcoming exhibition. I so excited to be included as one of the
Featured artists’ books by 40 artists, along with essays, conversations, and stories behind the work, the catalog offers a deeper look at the ideas and inspirations.

Opening in October and guest curated by Colette Gaiter, Booking brings together artists’ books that explore Black histories, identities, and futures. Across a range of forms and media, the exhibition considers the book as storyteller, cultural memory, experimentation, and an act of resistance. by @ibearted