Combining a variety of fabrics, buttons, shells, and beads, Stephen Towns’ mixed-media textile pieces draw on the rich heritage of quilts made especially by Black women in the American South. Tableaux reminiscent of family portraits and vacation snapshots lend themselves to an exploration of the power of pleasure and community during an era when the South was still racially segregated.

Towns’ solo exhibition, Safer Waters: Picturing Black Recreation at Midcentury at the Wichita Art Museum, is an extension of the artist’s ongoing series exploring Black leisure in the era of Jim Crow.

Large-scale compositions sing with vibrant color, portraying families and groups of friends in the midst of dance parties, sunbathing, boating, and swimming at a resort in Florida called Paradise Park. It wasn’t until 1968, with the passing of the Civil Rights Act, that desegregation laws finally negated the need for Black-only businesses and destinations, and Paradise Park, which was advertised “for colored people,” closed in 1969.

Towns examines the nature of not only relaxation but escape, celebrating the vibrancy of Black joy despite a period of unabashed oppression toward people of color. He emphasizes child-like innocence, togetherness, and leisure as a form of resistance.

Safer Waters expands his ongoing body of work with the addition of seven new works, shown here. The exhibition continues through June 14, and you can see more by Towns on Instagram.

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