The exhibition opens Aug. 17 in Blackbridge Hall Art Gallery and continues through Sept. 11. An artist reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 27. The exhibition is free and open to the public. McQueen also will give a public lecture at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 26 in the Museum Education Room No. 211.

This exhibition will focus on the artist’s stories as they relate to the textile fabric medium and the connections between the Western culture and the African culture of today. The textiles and objects displayed in the exhibition are from McQueen and artists of Africa.

Georgia College student Ernest F. Rogers curated the exhibition in fulfillment of his Museum Studies concentration and senior art capstone project.

McQueen is known for her work in the dyer’s art and textile surface design artist. For more than 30 years she has recorded stories about fabrics and fabric artists within communities of the African Diaspora-Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, West Africa, Central Georgia and the North Carolina community of her childhood. She has taped and photographed her encounters with textile artists to show the aesthetic, social and historical connections that bind these communities.

The Harambee African Tribal Sounds Unlimited and Hayiya Dance Theatre Performance Ensemble will perform during the Aug. 27 reception. Under the direction of Georgette Pilar Wilder, the ensemble will entertain the audience with West African and Diaspora dance, song, and percussion.

Wilder graduated as Wesleyan Woman Success in 2001, has taught as an adjunct professor at Fort Valley State University, instructor at Macon State College, dance teacher at Tubman African American Museum, and Artist-In-Residence for the Macon Arts Alliance. She currently teaches dance and is the Fine Arts Department Chair for the Miller Magnet Middle School in Macon.

The mission of the ensemble is to the cultural arts education and entertainment for the community. The performance will follow the lecture of the reception held at the Blackbridge Hall Art Gallery.

For more information call Carlos M. Herrera, Assistant Professor of Museum Studies, at (478) 445-7025.