10 Jul Sites of Memory

Posted at 10:54h in Exhibitions - Current and Upcoming, Homepage Slide Show by Desa Beslic

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Detail of Book Under The Pew ©Taylor E Edgerton

SITES OF MEMORY

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CURATED BY SAMANTHA JOHNSTON

HARLAN BOZEMAN, JUSTIN A. CARNEY, TAYLOR E EDGERTON, AND LETITIA HUCKABY

Inspired by the 2026 selection for One Book One Denver, Sites of Memory brings together four artists whose work explores how trauma, history, and resilience are embedded in place and carried across generations.

August 7 – September 19, 2026

COLORADO PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTS CENTER

1200 LINCOLN STREET, SUITE 111, DENVER, CO 80203

Art exhibit viewing times: Tues. – Fri. (11 am – 5 pm); Sat. (noon – 4 pm)

OPENING RECEPTION & SPECIAL PROGRAMMING:
FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, SATURDAY, AUGUST 8, & THURSDAY, AUGUST 20

Opening Reception:
Friday, August 7th between 5 – 8 pm at CPAC. This event is free and open to the public.

One Book One Denver Unveiling Celebration:
Friday, August 7, join the Denver Public Library at its Central Branch—just a five-minute walk from CPAC—for the reveal of the 2026 One Book One Denver selection. Celebrate the power of books to inspire conversation and community as two months of citywide programming begin. Registration is required, with entry times at 6:30 pm or 8 pm.

Virtual Artist Panel Discussion:
On Thursday, August 20th, at 4 pm MDT, CPAC Executive Director and Curator Samantha Johnston will lead a virtual panel discussion with exhibiting artists. The event is free to attend, but registration is required. Sign up.

Drop-In Writing with Lighthouse:
Find inspiration in photography and literature during this free creative writing workshop with Lighthouse Writers Workshop on Saturday, August 8, from 10 am to noon. Participants will explore the Sites of Memory exhibition before responding through writing. Open to all experience levels. Registration is required, and space is limited.

ARTIST PANEL RECORDING

CURATOR’S STATEMENT

The Colorado Photographic Arts Center (CPAC) presents Sites of Memory, an exhibition inspired by The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead, the 2026 selection for One Book, One Denver—a citywide literary initiative led by the Denver Public Library. The novel is based on real events at a reform school in Florida, and explores themes of injustice, friendship, trauma, and the lasting impact of violence.

Drawing from the themes of The Nickel Boys, this exhibition examines how trauma is embedded in place and carried across generations. Through portraiture and landscape, four artists map emotional and historical terrains where memory resists disappearance and the past remains urgently present.

In Out the E, Bozeman documents the rural town of Elaine, Arkansas, the site of a 1919 massacre that was one of the deadliest racial conflicts in U.S. history. Bozeman examines how a century of silence, racial division, and economic extraction has left the town’s Black residents trapped in a cycle with no way forward but to leave.

Edgerton’s portraits honor the unseen labor and Black family legacy of the Whitaker family matriarch, who defended, fought, and protected her family’s property in Metter, Georgia, when the men were called to war in the mid-1900s. Book Under the Pew is a tribute to the people and land that raised the Whitaker family.

In Full of Dreams, Carney traces his family history as he reckons with the trauma and grief that are passed down across generations. His landscapes evoke X-rays, inviting us to consider what may be hidden beneath the surface.

Finally, Huckaby’s project, A Tale of Two Greenwoods, documents two residential blocks: one in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the other in Greenwood, Mississippi. The work is printed onto cotton fabric and framed in embroidery hoops hinged together, evoking themes of home and connectedness. The work speaks to the desire for a people to build a home of their own and the struggle to reach the “American Dream.”

Through acts of remembrance and witnessing, the artists reveal how history continues to resonate through the landscape and those connected to it. In holding these places and people with care, the artists ask what it means to document not just what was lost, but what endures.

— Samantha Johnston, CPAC Executive Director & Curator

Explore Further: Discover a curated selection of books from the Denver Public Library inspired by The Nickel Boys to encourage further reading and reflection. Check out the full list now!