Special to The Truth
A solo exhibition of local artist Brenda Singletary’s mixed-media paintings and textured canvases opened at 20 North Gallery on Saturday, July 11. The dozen and a half works of art are a celebration of Singletary’s family’s history and their civic and military service. The exhibition will run through September 19.
The “Brenda Singletary: We Hold These Truths …” exhibit features the artist’s “Love Letter to a Complicated Nation” series in which she combines photography, paint, wire, found objects, textured canvas and other fiber media. Singletary is sharing this body of all-new work of her family’s history just as the nation is celebrating its semiquincentennial anniversary.
Brenda Singletary received her BA from Morris Brown College, an HBCU in Atlanta (Georgia) and received her MFA-IA from Goddard College (Plainfield, Vermont). A native of Detroit (Michigan), Singletary began her career working in public affairs for broadcast news in Atlanta, before embarking on her profession in the fine arts. She served for two years as a panel judge for the President’s Commission on White House Fellows in Washington, D.C. and, in the category of ArtMaker, her oral history of family memories is included in the Library of Congress’ HistoryMakers project, the digital repository for the Black experience.
Among her many art awards and grants are recognition from the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus, Atlanta Business League, American Express, as well as The Golden Sable from The College Fund, Daimler-Chrysler Motion through Expression Award, an artist residency at Camac Centre d’Art in Marnay-sur-Seine (France) and a 2021 Merit Award and 2022 & 2024 Accelerator Grants from The Arts Commission (Toledo, Ohio), as well as solo exhibitions—most recently at the Savage Community Gallery of Toledo Museum of Art (Ohio) in 2024. Her work is represented in numerous corporate collections including AT&T, Ford Foundation, Fox Television, Kaiser-Permanente, Marriott and McDonald’s Inc., among others. Her artwork forms part of the White House Collection and hangs in the conference room of the Whitehouse Fellows Administration Office.
Additionally, Singletary is an inaugural member of Detroit’s “The Breakfast Club,” a weekly networking session connecting artists to collectors in Southeast Michigan. She also serves as an arts instructor at the Toledo Museum of Art, as well as in her Downtown Toledo studio. She is a proud descendant of generations of U.S. military veterans.
Among her works om display at 20 North are several depicting photographs pf real people, including some of her family, within abstract paintings. One such painting includes the only known photo of a Black Civil War veteran and his family.
In addition to the featured exhibit, 20 North Gallery also displays glass, sculpture, paintings and jewelry by noted artists of the region. Gallery hours are Wednesdays through Saturday from noon to 4 p.m.
