All Together, Amongst Many: Reflections on Empathy

New exhibition and performances explore issues currently defining the US through the lens of empathy.

Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts presents All Together, Amongst Many: Reflections on Empathy, a group exhibition exploring the cultural and sociopolitical issues currently defining the United States, June 5 through September 19, 2021. Fostering empathy and understanding through the power of art, 21 multi-generational artists engage ideas centered on land rights and Indigenous rights, climate change and the environment, food justice, accessibility and healthcare, immigration and migration, systematic racism, LGBTQIA2S+ rights, the criminal justice system, police brutality, and violence on all accounts. Presented on the heels of the 2020 US elections, All Together, Amongst Many: Reflections on Empathy aims to awaken shared beliefs in humanity during these polarizing times. This exhibition, while not an exhaustive survey, provides a snapshot of America’s turbulent society today. 

All Together, Amongst Many: Reflections on Empathy includes works by artists Joshua Bennett, Lee Cannarozzo, Lizania Cruz, Cass Davis, Brendan Fernandes, Marcus Fischer, Cameron Granger, Jeffrey Gibson, Ekene Ijeoma, Seitu Ken Jones, Molly Joyce, Christine Sun Kim, Glenn Ligon, Kambui Olujimi, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith with Neal Ambrose-Smith, Julia Rose Sutherland, Stephanie Syjuco, Jordan Weber, Carmen Winant, and Jody Wood. These artists are in constant dialogue with the complex narratives of structural injustices and cultural heritage and make art as a civic and empathetic act. Several works facilitate or employ participation, offering views of how we can engage in civic life during the intertwined crises of systemic racism and COVID-19, and emphasize the joining of voices to transform our culture.

The exhibition includes new commissions and adaptations of existing projects by Fernandes, Jones, Ijeoma, Sutherland, Winant, Weber, and Wood.

All Together, Amongst Many: Reflections on Empathy connects artists from across the country with local organizations in an effort to highlight their work focused on issues represented in the exhibition. These partnerships will result in a variety of public and private programs with the 13th & Leavenworth Garden: A Pop-Up Oasis, Asian Community and Cultural Center, The Big Garden, Big Muddy Urban Farm, Black and Pink National, Bluebird Cultural Initiative, City Sprouts, Easterseals Nebraska, Great Plains Black History Museum, Green Omaha Coalition, Heartland Family Service, Heartland Pride, Immigrant Legal Center, KANEKO, Latino Center of the Midlands, The Lincoln Indian Center, Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska, Nebraska Writers Collective, NOISE, No More Empty Pots, and RISE, among others.

The exhibition gallery guide features text by Adams, several participating artists’ voices on the role of empathy in their work, Joshua Bennett’s poem “America Will Be”, and #blues4george, a stencil of George Floyd by Seitu Ken Jones. Gallery materials are available in English and Spanish. 

All Together, Amongst Many: Reflections on Empathy is organized by Rachel Adams, Chief Curator and Director of Programs.

Summer 2021 exhibitions opening reception: June 5, 2–5pm 
3pm: Performance by exhibiting artist Marcus Fischer 
4pm: Performance of exhibiting artist Ekene Ijeoma’s Deconstructed Anthems by pianist Dr. Kristín Jónína Taylor

Stream: twitch.tv/bemiscenter
RSVP: bemiscenter.org/events

Admission: Free

Access details: bemiscenter.org/accessibility

For more information about exhibitions and related public programs, visit bemiscenter.org.

All Together, Amongst Many: Reflections on Empathy is generously supported, in part, by Douglas County, Nebraska; Lozier Foundation; Mutual of Omaha; Nebraska Arts Council and Nebraska Cultural Endowment; Polina and Bob Schlott; Omaha Steaks; and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Support for Art in Practice: The Intersection of Poetry and Visual Art is provided, in part, by Art Bridges, Humanities Nebraska and Nebraska Cultural Endowment. Support for Brendan Fernandes's Free Fall 49 is provided, in part, by the Omaha Community Foundation's Equality Fund for LGBTQIA+. Support for Seitu Ken Jones's FoodJustUs: An intersection of food and art is provided, in part, by Conagra Brands Foundation.