Rockford Art Museum (RAM) opens new art exhibition My Way: African American Art from the Black South on Friday, October 8th, with a free public opening from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. at RAM, located inside the Riverfront Museum Park building at 711 North Main Street in downtown Rockford, Illinois. The exhibition remains on view through January 23, 2022; galleries are open Thursday through Sunday weekly with free general admission thanks to a sponsorship from Janella and Matthew Herbig.

Stemming from the roots that gave rise to Blues, Jazz and Gospel music, My Way: African American Art from the Black South surveys a collection of 156 works of art representing the styles and practices of this incredibly unique and inspired group of 46 artists including 8 original quilts constructed by the Gee’s Bend quilters in rural Boykin, Alabama. Many of the works in this exhibition are part of two major donations to Rockford Art Museum made by Susan and Stephen Pitkin and James Hager.

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My Way is organized collectively by the Rockford Art Museum curatorial staff and Collections/Exhibitions Committee. The exhibition and its related educational programming are sponsored by Coleman CPA and Consulting, Inc., Greenlee | Emerson, Matthew and Janella Herbig and the Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau and partially supported by a Partners in Excellence grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency and Women’s Art Board of Rockford Art Museum. This exhibition is further funded in part by a grant from Illinois Humanities, with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.