Some Time Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of Seeds of Colonialism, a solo exhibition of silk-screened posters by Cleveland-based artist Darice Polo, on view at 2882 W. 32nd St in Cleveland from January 6 – January 28, 2017. The exhibition opens on Friday, January 6, 2017 from 5 – 8 pm. The posters were printed in collaboration with Ping Pong Press.

Seeds of Colonialism is a series of statements made by US government officials following the takeover of Puerto Rico in 1898 at the conclusion of the Spanish-American War. It is especially poignant at this moment in US history when viewed under the context of the current US President-Elect’s use of denigrating and intimidating language in support of his immigration policy.

As citizens of the US since 1917, Puerto Ricans have engaged in every American war since World War I but have not been allowed full representation in Congress and the right to vote for US presidents. The social and economic ills, plaguing the island today, are a direct result of 118 years of US government control and suffocating US trade policies.

Seeds of Colonialism is a community-based project meant to engage the Puerto Rican community and bring awareness to the greater Cleveland community of the origins of Puerto Rico’s relationship with the US. Visitors to the gallery will be invited to anonymously comment on these statements at the opening of the exhibition and throughout the month of January to be presented to the public at the exhibition’s closing on January 28, 2017.

Darice Polo is a 2016 Creative Workforce Fellow. The Creative Workforce Fellowship is a program of the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture, made possible by the generous support of Cuyahoga County residents through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.

Polo received her MFA from SUNY, Albany and BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York. For more than a decade her drawings and paintings have explored the history of Puerto Rican diaspora in New York. Earlier this year her work was included in Latino Art of the Midwest: Into the 21st Century at the University of Dayton. She is currently producing the film A Wise Latina Woman in which Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor serves as the catalyst for a critical discussion about US involvement in Latin America and the Caribbean. She is an Associate Professor at Kent State University’s School of Art, where she has taught drawing and painting since 2004.

Read the review in CAN Journal, by Brittany Hudak.

Seeds of Colonialism opens Friday, January 6, 2017 from 5 – 8 pm.

Some Time Gallery will be open on the following dates through the month of January from 12 – 5 pm. The artist will be present during viewing hours.

Saturday, January 7th

Friday, January 13th

Saturday, January 14th

Friday, January 27th

Exhibition closing is on Saturday, January 28, 2017 from 2 to 5 pm