CalArtians in OMCA’s All Power to the People Tribute to the Black Panthers

Sadie Barnette. | Courtesy of Oakland Museum of California. Photo: Odell Hussey Photography

To commemorate the 50th year of the founding of the Black Panther Party, Oakland Museum of Contemporary Art (OMCA) presents All Power to the People: Black Panthers at 50, on view through Feb. 12.

The exhibit gathers rare historical artifacts, never-before-seen photographs, first-person accounts from former Panthers, scholars and community members, as well as contemporary art that demonstrates the Party’s continuing influence on culture and activism locally, nationally and internationally.

Among the many artists featured in the 200-object show are CalArts alumni Sam Durant (Art MFA 91), Carrie Mae Weems (Art BFA 81) and Sadie Barnette (Art BFA 06).

More from the museum’s press release:

All Power to the People: Black Panthers at 50 explores the Party’s stories of human achievement and struggle to support the needs of the oppressed. The exhibition will delve into aspects of the Party that are not often told, such as its survival programs, the presence of women and rank and file members, its use of media and art, and its founding Ten Point Program that continues to inform and inspire contemporary movements of change today.

Read an interview by Sam Whiting with Black Panther founding chairman and national organizer Bobby Seale in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Carrie Mae Weems, ‘The Assassination of Medgar, Malcolm, and Martin,’ archival pigment print, 61 in. x 51 in. (framed), 2008. | ©Carrie Mae Weems. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.