“Flowers for Henrietta Lacks” is a mixed media art exhibition created by Artist-In-Residence Bakara Johnson @blak_ink21 and curated by CCA Curator of Arts Education Boze Riley @bozelivingtheartlife22 on the campus of the University of West Alabama in the School of Nursing (Speith Hall 322). The exhibition is on display through the month of February. @uwanursing
The original body of work, “A Portrait of Henrietta Lacks,” was completed while Johnson was in residency at the Coleman Center for the Arts in the Spring of 2023. The exhibition honors and explores the compelling story of Henrietta Lacks and the HeLa cell – the first immortalized human cell line. The installation provides an opportunity for community engagement and discussion about informed consent, ethics, bio-politics, and the overarching mistreatment of Black people by the medical industry.
Johnson’s residency and exhibition was made possible by a grant from the National Performance Network. The current exhibition is a collaboration between the Coleman Center for the Arts, the UWA School of Nursing, and UWA’s Department of Diversity and Equity.