The Rev. James W.C. Pennington Lecture featuring Sarah Lewis, Harvard University, Author of The Rise

The Pennington Lecture is part of a series of offerings that bring into focus the history of the Talcott Street Congregational Church through the leadership of the Hartford Heritage Project at Capital Community College. The project aims to bring the remarkable history of the first Black church and school for Black children in Hartford into public view through exhibition space and programs.

When it comes to justice, Sarah Lewis knows the power that artists, visionaries, and iconic images have on our society. Having served on President Barack Obama’s Arts Policy Committee and as guest-editor of Aperture’s smash-hit “Vision & Justice” issue, she zeroes in on the importance of photography, art, and images as indicators of citizenship and catalysts of social change. In this empowering and timely talk, Lewis combines art history, race, American history, and technical innovation to paint a picture of cultural transformation and understanding. The road to true progressive change is often hard to communicate, but Lewis will explain the crucial nature of art for justice, and how progress can be seen through images.

 Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Capital Community College Foundation and presented as a collaboration between Capital Community College, The Amistad Center for Art & Culture, and the Wadsworth Atheneum.