Exhibition Guide
Stephen Towns. Swimming Lessons at Paradise Park. 2022. Courtesy of the artist. © Stephen Towns
Swimming Lessons at Paradise Park
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Art Object Info
These works by Stephen Towns depict Paradise Park in Ocala, Florida. Opened in 1949 on May 20—Emancipation Day in Florida—Paradise Park was one of the few vacation spots open to African Americans in the United States at the time and quickly became one of the most popular. Drawing from extensive archival research and photographs, Towns introduces the visitors of Paradise Park through richly textured and vibrant quilts and paintings. Despite segregation and discrimination outside Paradise Park, these works represent African Americans freely at play and in moments of leisure.
Towns was born in 1980 in Lincolnville, South Carolina, and lives and works in Baltimore. He is a trained painter with a B.F.A. in studio art from the University of South Carolina and has also developed a rigorous, self-taught quilting practice. Alternating between media practices, Towns mines archives and family stories to explore African American history.
Swimming Lessons at Paradise Park
These works by Stephen Towns depict Paradise Park in Ocala, Florida. Opened in 1949 on May 20—Emancipation Day in Florida—Paradise Park was one of the few vacation spots open to African Americans in the United States at the time and quickly became one of the most popular. Drawing from extensive archival research and photographs, Towns introduces the visitors of Paradise Park through richly textured and vibrant quilts and paintings. Despite segregation and discrimination outside Paradise Park, these works represent African Americans freely at play and in moments of leisure.
Towns was born in 1980 in Lincolnville, South Carolina, and lives and works in Baltimore. He is a trained painter with a B.F.A. in studio art from the University of South Carolina and has also developed a rigorous, self-taught quilting practice. Alternating between media practices, Towns mines archives and family stories to explore African American history.