Art in the Libraries' Inaugural WVU Feminist Activist Artist Residency program presents artist Catron Booker and her project, "Affrilachian Freedom Dreaming: Honoring Dr. Ancella Bickley."

Join Art in the Libraries and WVU Libraries on Friday, March 28 at 10 a.m. via zoom to hear from Booker about her experience as the first WVU Feminist Activist Artist Resident, her process and inspiration for exploring the Dr. Ancella Bickley archives in the West Virginia & Regional History Center and her resulting artistic product, a short film honoring Bickley. 

Catron Booker, a Black feminist experimental filmmaker and performance artist, uses Afrofuturism to envision Black liberation. During the Feminist Activist Collection Artist in Residency (FAIR), she will create "Affrilachian Freedom Dreaming," a short experimental film exploring Black resistance through the Dr. Ancella Bickley archival collection of the History Center's Feminist Activist Collection. Dr. Ancella Bickley, a Huntington, W.Va. native born in 1930, is a historian, educator and author known for preserving and documenting the history of Black communities in West Virginia with a focus on oral histories, genealogy and the contributions of overlooked Black scholars and activists.

Inspired by Bickley’s focus on overlooked “community builders,” Booker will interweave archival materials with footage of the Ohio River, a historically significant landmark in Louisville. The project examines the river as both a visual metaphor and a site of historical continuity. As part of the residency, she plans a film screening and community discussion, potentially including a conversation on Bickley’s work.