ECHOES of Poe-ARTry Exhibit

The freedom of mixed media and the power of the spoken word have been brought together in a union of history, heritage, and traditions found in the ancestry of women of color. Oral traditions, an integral part of many cultures, were often passed down to each generation through poetic verse, using parables and verbal imagery. The ECHOES of Poe-ARTry Exhibit is a marriage of the imagery invoked by the spoken word and the faces, textures, and colors of powerful women of color depicted through mixed media artwork.

MUSEA Co-Curator and Exhibit Visionary, Sumaiyah Wysdom Yates, envisioned this Exhibit to honor the lineage and ancestry of women of color. As a mixed media artist, Sumaiyah wanted to include the textures and tones present in these cultures. In addition, she wanted their voices to be heard — the voices of the Sacred ECHOES of the Well circle and their Ancestors. Sumaiyah wanted their strength, courage, “fiyah” (fire), and power to be echoed throughout the world through image + spoken word. As collaborators in the creation of powerful works of intentionally created art, Sumaiyah hopes that the images and words shared here will reach far and wide, uplifting all women and paying homage to the Medicine Women of these cultures who are systemically oppressed and whose work in this world is often discredited and disregarded. In the words of Sumaiyah: “Individually, we only make a peep. Collectively our voices can be heard on the highest mountaintop.” This Exhibit helps to raise the Sacred ECHOES of the Well’s collective voice.

The Artists have woven the potency of art-as-medicine into their mixed media works while honoring the powerful women in their lives and their ancestry who also carry the torch of the Medicine Woman. These women are causing and creating powerful healing salves for their souls by not only using art intentionally in this process of honoring the Curanderas, but also by adding the power of spoken word to the balm, thereby echoing the message of healing to all.

Creamy Chocolate Caramel

Sumaiyah Wysdom Yates

I come from a long line of Medicine Women.

Often amazed at the gifts we’ve been given.

Our medicine comes in all shades.

A gift of the healing strides we have made.

The albino sisters bring the sweetness of white chocolate.

The fullness of their lips – some seem to hate it.

Our honey dipped sisters bring the medicine of the bees.

Those sisters hear the wisdom of the trees.

Let’s not forget our deep dark roots.

The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice.

Creamy. Chocolate. Caramel.

All flavors included in our Melanated Carousel.

Light. Medium. Dark.

The contrast can be stark.

But sisters we be,

Not rival nor enemy.

Our curves. Our hair. Our skin.

Black is what we’re wrapped in!

And unapologetically so…

For those who didn’t know,

No shade.

Our melanin is always on parade.

No sunbathing required.

Our melanin has been acquired

Au naturale.

Without the temporary decal

That comes from burning in the Sun.

For sure, that’s no fun!

It’s an honor to be created

With beautiful skin that’s so melanated.

Fey-O

Semerit Stratchan

Fey-O – My medicine

refers to a song in our Vodun spirituality

our culturally rooted spirituality

where we turn to the leaves

in our misery

to be made whole again

Leaves, shells, rocks

Piercing the veil

Hearing the sound within the sound

the sound the tumbling

sun-bleached rocks

on the dry river bed

make when you walk on them–

a weaving unsteady walk

as they are not a firm foundation

they are an ever- moving surface

teaching us life.

A little girl, riddled with pain

and what , in her eyes,

are repeated betrayals

A girl grown into a woman

betrayed by Life

until embraced by that self-same life

Stars lighting in the dark night

of that sad aloneness

one by one.

Until all that was pain

is transformed into powerful

strong medicine.

There is the spirit animal

moving across the veil

The elder consciously aware

of her body eldering

and preparing the crossing over time

and the bright new dawn of life in the

light on the baby’s face.

All that grows,

all that heals

is ever present in the very beginning

and walks brightly across the stage

of the Intentional Canvas.

El Perdon: Forgiveness

Ogla Silva

The Image is a symbol a pre-columbian petroglyph found in an indigenous site in Utuado Puerto Rico.

Her name is Atabey, la mujer de Caguana and Gua Ban Ceh. She is considered the ancestral mother of the taino indigenous people of the Caribbean. She is tad-pole like, a frog like symbol of transformation. She lives within me. SHE represents the spirit of love, fertility and maternal nurturing but she is also the mother of hurricanes, earthquakes and volcanos. SHE is light and shadow.

The light or what we label as good is often brought to the front and the shadow or those things we call bad sit waiting for its time on the dance floor yet we push its expression away.I want to acknowledge that which lives with in as I have many female ancestors that have played their part well and continue to live within me yet often times the ancestral tribe have tried to erase them. I want to include my grandmother Juana who was seen as an unloving bitch and my ostracized grandmother Consuelo that was a cigar smoking espiritista and feared for her invisible powers. I want to include all the strong, willful, angry females including myself for being unapologetic for being themselves and yet most were willing to pay the price.

The Atabey represent love and destruction or love and fear.

The small image to the left is a representation of myself.

I am consciously finding my way back to my ancestral tree, the tree needs healing. It has no leaves on it. There is a single seed however that is germinating s on fertile soil. The fertile soil is subjective medium, this art community sits on this fertile infinite possibility soil.

The image representing me walks quietly in the forest of my female ancestors knows with internal certainty and yet with hesitancy that I will find my way to forgiveness of them, for them and for myself.

I speak to you who choose to listen, I speak to you who choose to see.

The Beautiful

Michelle Bernard

look
closer
you will not be able to see injury
masked is dried
blood on salty flesh
ash from the scorched mind spreading backward
over an expanse of memories
that fan the flames of invalidation

the eight year old
without hugs or kisses
or yeses

that was to blame for the
vexation

you will not be able to see injury

she has sought to erect futures
roaming territories
and realities
dirt from roles played etched into her heels as proof

moved boulders to prepare homes
dug trenches to quell her thirst
gathered nourishment from the setting sun,
from the sky
with eyes like beams, she squints to appear normal, to sleep

till her head became fire
arson that tortured sad stories over-told,
lit by a radiant realization of her potency, the power of her effectualness

her head ablaze,
her words words seared time

look closer
you will not be able to see injury

Daughters of an Ancient Line

Michelle LaForest Roberts

Luna, the moon, casts her iridescent glow over the Tree of Life illuminating the faces of my ancestors.

Pearls of wisdom hang from the branches over the heads of Amanda: the slave and cook; Ida, her daughter by the slave master: born in slavery but later became a midwife; Rebecca, her daughter: midwife, farmer, herbalist, healer; Mary, her daughter: cook, caterer, hostess, traveler, quilter; Aileen, her daughter: teacher, writer, mentor.

The Tree of Life gives the keys of power and strength which were embedded within their soul and enabled them to move from the blood of slavery into the freedom of their blackness.

Power, wisdom, strength and mysticism undergirded them as symbolized by the dragon. Our roots run deeply from, in and through Mother Africa.

I am the tree which has grown from the roots of my ancestors for they are me and I am them……mother, grandmother, great grandmother, great great grandmother, great great great grandmother all breathed life into me.

And I,….I am returning that breath of life to them as artist, crafter, poet, writer, seamstress, nature lover, healer, mother, grandmother, great grandmother. I’ve gone back to retrieve what was taken, what was lost, what was misplaced as I move forward into the future.

For I am the daughter of an ancient line.

Mystic She Is

Isabelle Stark

She dances with aloha, but she is not Hawaiian. Aloha is the way of life she chooses to live.

She is a mystic woman that dances to the moon and the stars. She is wild, adventurous, who is not

afraid to get her feet wet and create new experiences.

She is the lover of nature.
She is the lover of life.

She is the oracle who came beyond the seen and the unseen.

She follows the voice of the Great Mother Spirit. A voice that she learned to tune herself with.

She carries the medicine on her skirt and purple is one of her favorite colors.

This skirt sways like the waves of the ocean, it brings healing to the family, as well as to herself.

Her hips are the mountains that housed the womb of the soul. Here, she carries Olokun (Yoruba

goddess of the deep ocean).

This is the place where her ancient roots filled with knowledge and wisdom.

Olokun said to her, “Come to me and let’s take a deep dive to the bottom of the Ocean,

Let’s excavate something that you have forgotten and need to float to the surface where Mother

Yemanya can keep it safe for you.

Your family is your foundation, they are your roots, no matter how many miles apart, how many years

has passed.

Love is the strongest bond that can keep all of you as one Unit.

Love them

Care for them

Because, you are them and they are you.

Your medicine is your art.

Keep drinking this cup.

Mystic she is and she will always be.

Mama Lita

Lauren Adorno-Weatherford

Mamita linda
Pensando en ti
Thinking of you
All you do
Who you are
A shining star
In the cosmos of
My constellation.
Mamita linda
With your style and grace
Your beautiful face
Your bright smile
All the while
Setting the pace
Blazing the trail
Leading the way
For all your beloveds
To follow.
Mamita linda
Pensando en ti
A young girl raised by
El Barrio, Spanish Harlem
Big dreams
Long vision
You felt displaced
Much different
From your kin.
You had the spark
To make your own mark
And you did.
Mamita linda
Pensando en ti
You married your childhood sweetheart
Then moved very far away
As much as you loved your family
You could not stay.
Back in the day
From right coast to left
It caused many others to feel bereft
Yet, one by one
Through the years
The migration ensued
Joyful arrival

Reunion tears.

Mamita linda
Pensando en ti
You shaped a new world
Recreated yourself
Raising
Two daughters
Working full time
Got a College Education
A UCLA Degree
You set the bar
First generation graduate.
Achieved.
You went on
Teaching others to
Shine like the Star
You are.
Mamita linda
Pensando en ti
Self taught
Artist
Pianist
Singer
Dancer
Moon gazer
Adventurous
Global traveler
Always curious
Mamita linda
I see me in you
Never saw it before
As far as looks
Until I opened
An old photograph book
That made me gasp
And helped me see
Oh my it’s true
I have so much of you
In me
Thank you
Beautiful mother
Mamita linda
Pensando en ti

Vibrations

Milagros Suriano-Rivera

In fingerprints of gold, I honor you

For there is where you live

Infused in every cell and fiber of my being.

Each mark is an offering of remembrance and gratitude

Gratitude for..

the legacy of my lineage

my language,

my café con leche complexion

my thick curly hair

my conga loving hips

and my fuego Latina.

Whether we’ve never met and I was a dream

to far in a future you could not see

Or we met only for a moment and

you now dwell in the particles of my past

And perhaps you are still with me in this here and now

witnessing and loving me for all that I am

It is you that made me who I am and the source of my medicine

You brought me your medicine from the rich soils of Africa

And the sandy shores and mountains of Borinquen

And it lives in my name

Yes, names are vibrations and each has a unique frequency

Although many share my name,

none other sounds like mine in all the universe because of you

No. I may not have known you

No. I may not know where you came from

But I do know your names

And it is their vibration and resonance that ignites the alchemical fire

within me that alchemizes my Healer’s Heart.

I lift your names up in honor of their resonance:

Raquel Matta-Sanchez,

Aurora Mateo

Justa Sanchez-Mateo

Santa Bermudez

Carmen Mullier

Maria Teresa Rios

Because of you I am ….ME-LAH-GROS

Because of you I am….Made In Love And Grace Resilient Original & Sovereign

Droplets of Joy

Isabelle Stark

Your majestic beauty reigns over my soul with awe.

You who are the woman of the jungle and the parrot, the jaguar, the monkey, the fish and other animals

are your gifts of creation.

Your water falls to feed us with your vital substance which is the source of all creation.
The world calls you Angel Falls, but your real name is Kerapakupai Meru, which means, waterfalls of the

deepest place or Parakupai Vera, the fall of the highest point.
This is the original name from the Pemon Tribe in Venezuela.

Oh, Mother Earth, you called me from many moons ago to come to you and receive your

blessing…..well, I am and I have listened…

You told me….”Have courage and be brave for the healing process.

It is time to heal and old painful wound that torn your heart into pieces during a political struggle.”

I said to her “ I can’t jump from your highest point, it hurts”.
She said “Do not fear to heal and go to the deepest place.

I jumped,
I cried,
I screamed,
I cursed.

As my tears bathed mu face and droplets of joy and freedom started to bright and heart.
These droplets of joy brought sparks of creation that ignited my imagination.
These droplets of joy that make me dance, sing and become one with the brush as I painted.
These droplets of joy that show me it was worth to jump and surrender.
These droplets of joy have sewn my heart with wisdom and healing.
Gracias, Gracias, Gracias….I said for teaching me that his was just a bad memory.
It was a story that I witnessed, a chapter in my life that need to be release.

I jumped, I healed and I am FREE!!!

Indigo Woman

Semerit Stratchan

Indigo Woman
Direct descendant of ancient Ancestral lands,
with your imposing regal presence,
walking tall
and swaying hips, spreading perfume
of jasmine and musk,

as you step into your delightful garden-
not of this world-
you twinkle like stars

your ankle bells jingle.
Indigo Woman
you bring joy and solace from aloneness,
to this daddy’s girl
awakening her
to your ever present embrace;
infecting her
with a sense of power
that would take decades
to unfold and bloom.
You heal this hurting girl from I to We
showing her how to carry the ancestors
in the folds of her headdress
and the convolutions of her brain loops.
You take this confused girl
who had been convinced that she is less than
from head thinking
to the Intelligence of the Heart
the mighty Sia
weaving wisdom from all of Creation.
Indigo Woman,
you somehow hail
from the Basin of the Amazonia,
going with a flow
teeming with all kinds of Life.

You sway and activate the Power
Indigo Woman:
Fire, Moisture,
Earth and Sky.
You walk in the world
of my dreams, Indigo Woman.
You bring us into the Future.

Adventure of Jewels

Vanita Chauhan

Not in the flow

Energy low

Being reborn again and again Desiring to reach my goals Great spirit inspires me City of Gem here I AM

Wearing yellow at the preserve and catching rays Cobra and bow poses Crystal thoughts: Amber, Topaz, Citrine Will, Power (big time!) Laughter, joy and even anger

Cleansing mind and body No EGO to Edge God Out My energy never dies Moving into divine flow of life

I AM surrendering I AM diving into victory I AM the creator of this reality I AM in love with the magic and mystery of the universe

Black Woman

Sumaiyah Wysdom Yates

Black Woman.

Mother of All Creation.

From her womb humanity was birthed.

Black Strength.

Standing beside her people.

Her soulmates.

Elevating them to their rightful place.

Black Courage.

Unafraid to fight for what’s right.

To fight for her life.

Black Fiyah.

Guardian and protector.

Nurturing her children with the fierceness in her soul.

Black Power.

She will do for her kind

What Dr. King had no choice to leave behind.

Her mane is her strength.

Samson was no rival.

She wears it long, short, curly, or loc’d.

If she chooses to cut it off, it only makes her stronger.

Look but don’t touch!

She doesn’t want your vibes to affect her strides.

Her womb is her warrior.

Giving her the courage she needs to proceed;

The courage she needs to succeed.

She has all she needs within her.

Out of the darkness

She brings forth Life. Light. Love…

The fiyah in her eyes burns off

The tears when she cries.

They Illuminate what is not seen.

With them, she creates a new scene –

A life of her own divining.

Her power is in her pussy.

Wait. What?

You heard what I said!

Her hips, her thighs, her lips, her eyes…

All seen with a keen understanding

That what she hides between her legs

Will knock the strongest man off his peg.

No need to cut Samson’s locks.

She will bring him to his knees with what she’s got.

Her melanin contains the medicine

To heal a nation.

Medicine Woman. Curandera. Hedge Witch.

She heals the world with her pearls.

And when they refer to her as a bitch,

She’ll flip the switch on that script!

Without missing a beat

She will bring the heat

Of her

Black Strength.

Black Courage.

Black Fiyah.

Black Power.

Black Woman

We as a community strive to be intentional in our relationship with life, to honor the flora, the fauna, the fungi, the water, the air, the minerals, stories, cultures, traditions and sacred places of the Many Lands in which we find our sense of place and practice Intentional Creativity. We acknowledge with humility and gratitude our interconnection, our place in the cycle, and our sacred responsibility of reciprocation, love, and respect towards our precious and beautiful home, the Earth and all beings.

Thank you for witnessing the exhibit.
We invite you to leave your comments and reflections below!

Special thanks to:

Shiloh Sophia for her dedication to ensuring that all women artists are seen and recognized.

Sumaiyah Wysdom Yates for her vision for this Exhibit and dedication to see it through fruition.

Exhibit Page Design and Concept

Amber Gould, Curatorial Director

Sumaiyah Wysdom Yates, Lead Exhibit Technologist and Designer

Kelly Bonsall, Design CoCurator
Milagros Suriano-Rivera, Design CoCurator
Jessica Richmond, Design CoCurator

Exhibit Virtual Presentation

Sumaiyah Wysdom Yates, Lead Exhibit Technologist and Designer

Collaborative Curation

Shiloh Sophia, Curator

Promotion and Communications

Sumaiyah Wysdom Yates and Amber Gould

About Sacred ECHOES of the Well

Sacred ECHOES was built to create stronger bonds with other women of color while practicing Intentional Creativity offered to help strengthen our creative self expression and witness each other in this way. This Circle also supports its members stay connected to MUSEA’s member events, exhibits, museum shows and classes.

ECHOES stands for: Ethnicity, Culture, Heritage, Oneness, and Everlasting Sisterhood…

The History of the Sacred ECHOES of the Well Circle

This sacred container was established by our Co-Founder, Shiloh Sophia McCloud in response to events happening to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color around the world so that this group of women would be supported by each other while also being part of the greater MUSEA community. Having been deeply impacted by these events, Shiloh Sophia collaborated with BIWOC members of the Intentional Creativity Guild to establish monthly Re-Membering Circles lead by Elders Semerit Strachan and Lauren Adorno-Weatherford. Through this year-long Intentional Creativity circle process, it became clear that there was a need and desire to create a permanent circle where women of color could come together to co-create healing artwork for themselves and the world-at-large as they witness, uplift, and support one another.

In 2022, Sumaiyah Wysdom Yates and Milagros Suriano-Rivera stepped into leadership roles for the MUSEA Working Group and Museum CoCurators, and were brought forward to create more engagement within the group and deeper connection to the MUSEA community and events and museum experiences.

This Circle is guided by the wisdom of Elders Semerit and Lauren, who lead the group in monthly Red Thread Circles designed as enrichment in Intentional Creativity and forming stronger bonds of sisterhood. Community engagement and connection is bolstered through activities co-created by Sumaiyah and Milagros, such as writing inquiries and once monthly open #ECHOES painting studio via Zoom.

In February 2022, Musea: Intentional Creativity Museum held its first Sacred ECHOES-exclusive Museum Show and Exhibit, Carnaval of Spirit Love. The powerful images and stories from this group of women resonate throughout our community still today. The next exclusive exhibit for this group is upcoming on August 17, 2022. Although a Circle in and of itself, it is clear that these women are still and intricate, important, and valued part of the greater Musea community.

You can view the incredible Exhibit Presentation below!

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The Intentional Creativity® Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. We are a self-funded Foundation, which means that your donations and our Museum Membership is what allows the Foundation to host Museum Exhibits, steward the MUSEA Museum + permanent collection, employ women - all graduates of MUSEA's certification programs - to run the day-to-day business of the ICF, offer grants to artists to assist them in creating and sharing Intentional Creativity workshops, offer Arts Activism events and programming, along with other programming and more. Without you, none of this would be possible. Thank you for your generosity and support!

If you enjoyed this Exhibit, please consider making a donation so that we can continue to bring underrepresented art and artists to the forefront. Thank you.

About The Exhibit

Exhibit Media

Gallery

About Sacred ECHOES of the Well

The History of the Sacred ECHOES of the Well Circle