Members of Great Stories Book Club at Main Street Academy Head to Diggs Art Gallery at Winston-Salem State

By Ellen Gordon

Media Coordinator Main Street Academy

On Oct. 21, members of the Main Street Academy Great Stories Book Club headed to Diggs Art Gallery on the campus of Winston Salem State University to participate in a workshop with Zun Lee, an artist participating in the current exhibition titled “Do You See Me?”

Ellen Gordon, Media Coordinator at Main Street Academy, arranged the gallery walk through and workshop in conjunction with one of the three books the club members are reading in the book club this fall.

Buck, a memoir by M. K. Asante about his teen-age years in Philadelphia, has many of the same themes as the current Diggs exhibit, which focuses on perceptions of African-American males in today’s society.

Gallery curator and assistant professor Endia Beale gave the students a tour of the exhibit. Then she and Canadian artist Zun Lee asked students to identify a work of art which appealed to them.

“The students showed great insight and understanding as they each took turns explaining why they chose a particular work as their favorite,” Gordon said.

Zun Lee then led the students in an examination of some 200 photographs he is using as part of another project about what photos show about people on both sides of the camera. He invited the students to compose their own mini-albums from the photos and to explain their reasoning to the group. The trip to Diggs Gallery ended with a trip to the cafeteria for lunch and a viewing of several of the university’s works of public art.

Main Street Academy members of The Great Stories Book Club attending the field trip included Kenya Rodriquez, Levi Myer, Terrell Herbert, Sabion Kelley, David Garcia, and Tevin House. Student Eric Hawkins also participated. The American Library Association awarded one of 75 grants to the Main Street Academy Media Center to sponsor the book club. Media Coordinator Ellen Gordon reached out to Diggs Art Gallery as a way to expand the boundaries of the book club experience and to strengthen the bond with the local community.