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Donnamarie Barnes, Steven John Irby, and Dr. Georgette Grier-Key
Talk | Beyond the Lens: Capturing Culture and Conscience
Moderated by Dr. Georgette Grier-Key with Donnamarie Barnes and Steven John Irby
February 18, 2022, 6 pm - 7 pm
IN-PERSON LIVESTREAM
In the Lichtenstein Theater and Livestreamed
On the second evening of a two-part program in recognition of Black History Month, the Parrish Art Museum in collaboration with Eastville Community Historical Society will present a panel discussion on the noted artistic pioneer and activist Gordon Parks, his significant contributions and achievements in the field of photography, and his lasting influence on photographers.
Dr. Georgette Grier-Key, Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Eastville Community Historical Society, will be joined by Donnamarie Barnes, Director of History and Heritage at Sylvester Manor Educational Farm in Shelter Island, and Steven John Irby, Co-Founder & Director of Street Dreams magazine, in a conversation surrounding the art of the photograph and its transformational power in documenting and amplifying social, cultural, racial, and political issues and movements of the day. Parks’ unique style of photography and filmmaking is an enduring body of work that constantly informs us. The panelists—artists and photographers in their own right—will reexamine Parks’ work and talk about various techniques of photography and strategies for storytelling.
ABOUT THE PANELISTS
Dr. Georgette Grier-Key is the Executive Director and Chief Curator of Eastville Community Historical Society of Sag Harbor and has worked in various museums, historical societies, and service organizations with a focus on organizational sustainability. She currently serves on the board of the Museum Association of New York and the board of the Preservation League of New York State. Additionally, Dr. Grier-Key dedicates herself to her community by leading and serving on local and regional boards such as the NAACP Brookhaven Town Branch where she is the duly elected President. Dr. Grier- Key is an adjunct assistant professor at CUNY Medgar Evers College and the director of the Long Island History Institute at SUNY Nassau Community College. Dr. Grier-Key is a historian, preservationist, and curator, using her skills and experience as an organizer and activist to further the agenda of inclusion in traditional frameworks that have practiced institutional and structural exclusion. She is a not-for-profit management specialist and practitioner with more than 20 years of experience in both business and non-profit organizations. She provides consultant services from small to mid-sized organizations including several municipalities.
Donnamarie Barnes joined Sylvester Manor in 2014 as a volunteer and history docent, in 2016 became the Curator & Archivist, and now serves as the Director of History & Heritage. Over the past four years, she has curated exhibitions at the Sylvester Manor house including Women of the Manor, A Place in Pictures, and All That Has Been: Our Roots Revealed. Her ongoing work of conserving the various collections, researching and uncovering the lives and identities of the enslaved and indigenous people of Sylvester Manor is an integral part of the organization’s mission to preserve, cultivate and share the stories of all the people of Sylvester Manor. Barnes is also Co-Director of the Plain Sight Project, which is dedicated to uncovering, naming, and counting the enslaved people of the East End of Long Island. In 2015, she curated a highly acclaimed historic tintype photography exhibition at the Eastville Community Historical Society in Sag Harbor, entitled Collective Identity. For over thirty years Barnes worked in the editorial photography field as a photographer and photo editor for publications such as People and Essence magazines and as a photo editor at the Gamma Liaison news photo agency. A life-long summer and full-time resident of Nineveh Beach in the historic SANS Community in Sag Harbor, Barnes grew up photographing the community and the beach landscape, and photography remains at the heart of all of her work. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Photography from the Cooper Union School of Art.
Steven John Irby (A.K.A. Steve Sweatpants) is an artist cut directly from the cloth of Brooklyn and Queens. Photographer, creative consultant, and aspiring director, Irby is an artist of the people, dissolving the arbitrary division between low brow and high brow. His stunning black and white photographs invoke the spirit of Henri Cartier-Bresson but with a modern twist. As a result, Irby has been called the 21st-century heir of The Decisive Moment. To experience Irby’s work is “to catch the name of God as in a dream—fleeting, dazzling, genuflecting.” Irby proves art need not be opaque. It need only ask the right questions. For Irby, it is, “Which moments are worth stopping time for?” There are many answers, of course. His work answers with unflinching fortitude, “Any moment in which the unbreakable power of the Black experience announces itself”—the worthiness of every single Black moment, no matter how mundane. “If you would mourn the loss of Black life, you damn well better celebrate a Black smile, a rowdy porch playing dominos, and a flawless cross-up at the local basketball court.” Irby is the co-founder & director of Street Dreams magazine and an artist of many disciplines. He has provided work for Sony, Nike, Cartier, The New Yorker, and more. He was honored by the City of New York in 2020 for his efforts in the arts and his local community.
Advance ticket purchase with pre-event registration is recommended. Limited tickets will be available at the door. All sales are final, non-transferable, and non-refundable.
This indoor event requires all attendees to wear medical-grade masks at all times and show proof of vaccination; those 18 and older must provide a valid ID. To help us expedite the check-in process, we encourage all guests to send their proof in advance by emailing it to healthfirst@parrishart.org. Please put the event title in your subject line.
For more information surrounding our COVID-19 protocol, go here.
Friday Nights are made possible, in part, by Presenting Sponsor:
Additional support provided by The Corcoran Group and Sandy and Stephen Perlbinder.
Talk | Beyond the Lens: Capturing Culture and Conscience
Moderated by Dr. Georgette Grier-Key with Donnamarie Barnes and Steven John Irby
February 18, 2022, 6 pm - 7 pm
IN-PERSON LIVESTREAM
In the Lichtenstein Theater and Livestreamed
On the second evening of a two-part program in recognition of Black History Month, the Parrish Art Museum in collaboration with Eastville Community Historical Society will present a panel discussion on the noted artistic pioneer and activist Gordon Parks, his significant contributions and achievements in the field of photography, and his lasting influence on photographers.
Dr. Georgette Grier-Key, Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Eastville Community Historical Society, will be joined by Donnamarie Barnes, Director of History and Heritage at Sylvester Manor Educational Farm in Shelter Island, and Steven John Irby, Co-Founder & Director of Street Dreams magazine, in a conversation surrounding the art of the photograph and its transformational power in documenting and amplifying social, cultural, racial, and political issues and movements of the day. Parks’ unique style of photography and filmmaking is an enduring body of work that constantly informs us. The panelists—artists and photographers in their own right—will reexamine Parks’ work and talk about various techniques of photography and strategies for storytelling.
ABOUT THE PANELISTS
Dr. Georgette Grier-Key is the Executive Director and Chief Curator of Eastville Community Historical Society of Sag Harbor and has worked in various museums, historical societies, and service organizations with a focus on organizational sustainability. She currently serves on the board of the Museum Association of New York and the board of the Preservation League of New York State. Additionally, Dr. Grier-Key dedicates herself to her community by leading and serving on local and regional boards such as the NAACP Brookhaven Town Branch where she is the duly elected President. Dr. Grier- Key is an adjunct assistant professor at CUNY Medgar Evers College and the director of the Long Island History Institute at SUNY Nassau Community College. Dr. Grier-Key is a historian, preservationist, and curator, using her skills and experience as an organizer and activist to further the agenda of inclusion in traditional frameworks that have practiced institutional and structural exclusion. She is a not-for-profit management specialist and practitioner with more than 20 years of experience in both business and non-profit organizations. She provides consultant services from small to mid-sized organizations including several municipalities.
Donnamarie Barnes joined Sylvester Manor in 2014 as a volunteer and history docent, in 2016 became the Curator & Archivist, and now serves as the Director of History & Heritage. Over the past four years, she has curated exhibitions at the Sylvester Manor house including Women of the Manor, A Place in Pictures, and All That Has Been: Our Roots Revealed. Her ongoing work of conserving the various collections, researching and uncovering the lives and identities of the enslaved and indigenous people of Sylvester Manor is an integral part of the organization’s mission to preserve, cultivate and share the stories of all the people of Sylvester Manor. Barnes is also Co-Director of the Plain Sight Project, which is dedicated to uncovering, naming, and counting the enslaved people of the East End of Long Island. In 2015, she curated a highly acclaimed historic tintype photography exhibition at the Eastville Community Historical Society in Sag Harbor, entitled Collective Identity. For over thirty years Barnes worked in the editorial photography field as a photographer and photo editor for publications such as People and Essence magazines and as a photo editor at the Gamma Liaison news photo agency. A life-long summer and full-time resident of Nineveh Beach in the historic SANS Community in Sag Harbor, Barnes grew up photographing the community and the beach landscape, and photography remains at the heart of all of her work. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Photography from the Cooper Union School of Art.
Steven John Irby (A.K.A. Steve Sweatpants) is an artist cut directly from the cloth of Brooklyn and Queens. Photographer, creative consultant, and aspiring director, Irby is an artist of the people, dissolving the arbitrary division between low brow and high brow. His stunning black and white photographs invoke the spirit of Henri Cartier-Bresson but with a modern twist. As a result, Irby has been called the 21st-century heir of The Decisive Moment. To experience Irby’s work is “to catch the name of God as in a dream—fleeting, dazzling, genuflecting.” Irby proves art need not be opaque. It need only ask the right questions. For Irby, it is, “Which moments are worth stopping time for?” There are many answers, of course. His work answers with unflinching fortitude, “Any moment in which the unbreakable power of the Black experience announces itself”—the worthiness of every single Black moment, no matter how mundane. “If you would mourn the loss of Black life, you damn well better celebrate a Black smile, a rowdy porch playing dominos, and a flawless cross-up at the local basketball court.” Irby is the co-founder & director of Street Dreams magazine and an artist of many disciplines. He has provided work for Sony, Nike, Cartier, The New Yorker, and more. He was honored by the City of New York in 2020 for his efforts in the arts and his local community.
