Studio 116 is excited to present Beloved Community: Portraits of Honor with paintings and sculpture by Irish American artist Evie Lennon that highlight her African American heroes, both public and personal, in the ongoing movement for Civil Rights.

Dr. Roosevelt Escalante, Jr..t

Alvin Brooks Brad Lomax was an American civil rights and disability rights activist Colin Kaepernick—also have pride of place in the exhibit. Figures represented in Beloved Community were selected from a list of over a hundred people—mentors, coworkers, church elders, and neighbors who have made a deep impression on Lennon over the years, including the celebrated choir director Dr. Roosevelt Escalante, Jr. and her former supervisor and principal Dr. Jennifer Malone, who is now an Assistant Professor of Education at Missouri Western State University.

“In times of cultural tension, the quiet truth of who we are—and how we choose to see one another—matters more than ever,” says Lennon, who now resides in Hendersonville, North Carolina. “Witnessing individuals overcome extraordinary obstacles to create opportunity, purpose, and hope was the norm, not the exception, in my experience.”

Lennon believes the dignity and merit of public figures—as well as those who continue to lead, uplift, heal and inspire in the face of adversity—were being diminished in public discourse and the dismantling of DEI initiatives. She views each artwork in Beloved Community as a creation expressing her gratitude and love, celebrating the ripple effect one person’s vision and influence can have on widening circles.

“I realize now that my unshakeable feeling that I was in the presence of greatness was spot on, because the people I was graced to know tirelessly continue to do good in a world that can make you so tired,” Lennon says. “The people I painted and sculpted couldn’t be more different from one another but what they had in common was an indomitable spirit.”