My First Art Adventure

Walking into the Palmer Museum of Art, there were many paintings and sculptures that caught my eye, but one in particular seemed to possess more meaning than the others.  Harlem Rose was not the most colorful and outrageous piece of art that I observed at the museum, but in my opinion, it was the most intriguing and moving. 

In this 2005-2006 piece, African American artist Willie Cole creates what reminded me of a flower or a sunburst out of old, worn women’s shoes.  One shoe is placed in the center of the piece, the toe pointing outward.  All of the other shoes are placed around it in the same fashion with their toes pointing out and their rubber outsoles facing the innermost shoe.  This presents the viewer with the illusion of petals on a flower.  The shoes are neutral in color, most of them being black or brown, and the rubber outsoles are all a light brown or tan shade.  The light color of the bottom of the shoe enables the viewer to see the scuffs and age in each individual shoe. 

While Harlem Rose was created more recently, Cole was born in 1955.  At that point in American history, there was great racial division and unrest throughout the country.  The Civil Rights Movement had begun to pick up speed, as African Americans participated in bus boycotts, sit-ins, and freedom rides in a fight for equality.  Cole, an African America born during this time period, would therefore clearly have a true connection to the era of civil rights. According to the plaque next to the piece, Cole has created other sculptures from consumer objects that workers would have worn or used besides Harlem Rose.  Many of his works relate to West African culture or African American life in the Americas. 

Knowing about the rhetorical situation of the piece, it is obvious that Cole was trying to make a point that African American women during the era of racial discrimination worked hard to achieve the equality that they desired.  By seeing the worn-down shoes of working African American women, Cole uses pathos to appeal to the viewer’s emotions.  It’s easy to visualize the struggles that the African American women of the time period suffered through by simply looking at the scuffs on the shoes.  Knowing about the bus boycotts in Montgomery and Rosa Parks influence on the boycotts, I wondered if the title was a connection between the two.  A powerful woman and a powerful location create an affective title to the piece with so much meaning.

Before this assignment, I was unaware that Penn State even had it’s own arts museum, so it was a pleasant surprise to hear that our English class would be going there on a trip.  I am a big fan of art, from paintings and sculptures to music, so being able to explore the museum was an enjoyable experience.  Though the museum was not huge, there were a lot of interesting and entertaining pieces that made me think.  The trip definitely showed me a different side of Penn State that I would have never known to explore.