The Museum of Art + Light presented Rhythm and Hues: An Evening of Jazz & Art on Feb. 20, featuring award-winning American artist Dean Mitchell and live jazz performances throughout the galleries.

The event — a partnership with the Black Entrepreneurs of the Flint Hills and the Yuma Street Cultural Center — was inspired by temporary exhibits the Museum of Art + Light currently has on display that highlight the lives of Black Americans.

According to Kristy Peterson, vice president of learning, engagement and visitor experience, the exhibits tie in Manhattan’s rich black history, specifically the Yuma Street Historic District, where Black Americans first settled in Manhattan in the 1870s. 

“It just felt natural to have an interpretive area tied to those themes of crafting sanctuaries, about thinking about the sanctuary of Yuma Street, and Manhattan’s history, and thinking about what is home, and what kind of defines a community,” Peterson said. “So all of those themes in the photographs, and that are written by the curator of the exhibition in the interpretive text, also kind of resonate with our own history, just two blocks south of the museum.”

The first exhibit, titled Crafting Sanctuaries: Black Spaces of the Great Depression South, features a collection of black-and-white photos of Black Americans from the Great Depression era. The second, titled The Erosion of Time: A Digital Compilation of Works by Des Lucréce and Dean Mitchell, and the third, titled Heritage & the Human Condition, both highlight Mitchell’s paintings, many of which depict Black Americans. 

But it’s not just Mitchell’s art that was part of the event. In a room packed to the brim with eager listeners, the artist himself gave a presentation about his life and the inspiration behind his artwork. Mitchell said that opportunities like Rhythm & Hues for people to come together instead of being on their devices are crucial.

“When I was growing up, there was no such thing as a big information highway, like the quick access to information, was not around,” Mitchell said. “Now kids are exposed very quickly and very rapidly on a very fast pace. And I think it’s important that we, as human beings, have constant engagement with one another, and not just through a machine.”

Adding to the atmosphere of the evening were local jazz musicians Jahvelle Rhone and Eric Brown, who performed live in different spaces around the museum and came together later in the night for a final collaborative set. 

Mitchell, who has multiple paintings depicting jazz artists, said he has always appreciated jazz for its collaborative nature that transcends race. 

“Jazz is a melting pot, different people coming together and creating music together,” Mitchell said. “ … jazz has always been something that I love, because [of] the artists working together. … It’s like it just crossed boundaries.”

Whether through artwork or jazz, Rhythm & Hues was about highlighting history, celebrating culture and building community. Though the event has come to a close, for a limited time, visitors to the Museum of Art + Light can still view the artwork that inspired it. 

Heritage & the Human Condition will be on view until March 8, Crafting Sanctuaries until March 9 and the Erosion of Time until April 30.