Lava Thomas: Homecoming recently closed at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts in Montgomery, Alabama. The exhibition included three bodies of work: Mugshot Portraits: Women of the Montgomery Bus Boycott (2018-2021), Looking Back and Seeing Now (2015-2021), and Decatur (2022). Much gratitude to Bridget Cooks, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Art History and African American Studies at UC Irvine, for bringing this work to the MMFA, and to the team at the MMFA for such an amazing job with the installation and programming. An exhibition catalogue is available through Sming Sming Books with essays by Bridget R. Cooks, Ph.D., Bertis D. English, Ph.D., and Jennifer Jankauskas, Ph.D. Thank you to Vivian Sming for creating such a beautiful catalogue.
Having this work exhibited in the city where the historic boycott took place was a gratifying and humbling experience. It was incredible to meet so many descendent families of the women who participated in the Montgomery Bus Boycott during the opening reception. I’m grateful for their participation in the exhibition through MMFA’s Culture Connect program.
I want to highlight the works in Decatur (2022). Decatur (2022) is my most recent body of work which is anchored by a life size portrait of my maternal great-great-great-grandfather, Charles H. Arthur.
Charles H. Arthur was born a free man in Ripley, Ohio and served in the Civil War as a private in Company K, 5th US Colored Infantry. Upon his honorable discharge, he changed his name from William Eckler––the name of his father's enslaver. The act of shedding his father's slave name and taking a name of his own choosing was an assertion of autonomy and self-sovereignty, but it impeded Charles Arthur's ability to receive his military pension - because he had to “prove” his identity as William Eckler, the soldier.
An eight-year long legal battle ensued which he ultimately won. The portrait in the exhibition is based on the photograph that was sent to Charles H. Arthur’s fellow soldiers to confirm his military service and identity, and the document archive generated from the legal battle reveals his life story.