New exhibit hopes to bring more students to Robeson cultural center

A black and white border melts into a red glow as light and dark hands clasp. The hands radiate bright lines from the powerful image of a union, a symbol of the triumphant end of a traumatic era in American history and the promising beginning of a new movement that shaped the country's cultural consciousness.

The image described is one of 72 linocut prints by internationally acclaimed printmaker and painter Stephen Alcorn. These linocuts make up the exhibit Free at Last!, which commemorates the life and times of Frederick Douglass, on display until April 5 in the Paul Robeson Cultural Center.

The prints are intended to create a visual backdrop against which the epic tale of Douglass' life -- his escape from slavery and heroic rise to prominence as an abolitionist and orator -- may unfold. They provide a historic look at not only the trials and tribulations of generations of African-Americans, but also at the people and events that encompassed the emancipation movement and had permanent effects on the entire country.

Alcorn's prints use the linocut technique to enhance the message of humans in pursuit of freedom. Each print is brimming with allegorical textures and patterns bursting with energy as if unwilling to conform to boundaries.

Linocut printmaking consists of cutting images into pieces of linoleum. Alcorn said he prefers the medium because it allows him to express himself more naturally, while challenging him to bring the versatile material's surface to life.

"It's a real labor of love to be a printmaker," Alcorn said. "It requires a vigor and decisiveness because once you cut something away you can't put it back. One has to be both bold and decisive."

Some of the prints are images of slavery. Others are portraits of Douglass' contemporaries, such as Abraham Lincoln, who is depicted as a vibrant sun that dominates and nourishes the country below. Another features Walt Whitman with a wise visage of wildly weaving colored lines.

"These prints say very clearly that all human beings are members of the same family," said Lawrence Young, director of the cultural center. "If you look into the eyes of Douglass or into the eyes of Lincoln or any of the others, you're looking into the eyes of humanity."

The pre-eminent message of bridging the gap between cultures in America, which the exhibit and Douglass' life both reflect, reminds one of the importance of uniting cultures on campus through the impending expansion of the HUB and the cultural center.

As it stands, few students are expected to see the exhibit of original prints by Alcorn, which appeared last February at the Bread and Roses Cultural Project in New York City, commemorating the 100th anniversary of Douglass' death. The exposure the exhibit will get is obscured by its location in the Robeson Center, which many students are unaware of and even fewer frequent.

Students often peruse the exhibits on display in the HUB and Pattee as they pass through day in and day out, but most remain unexposed to the cultural exhibits that the center offers.

"I check out everything that's here," said Melissa Machesky (junior-special education) as she stopped to check out the HUB exhibits on Tuesday night. But she said she's never seen anything displayed at the cultural center.

"I had no idea where it even was," she said.

Machesky's sentiments reflect a common reason why the cultural center, located on Shortlidge Road behind Ritenour Heath Center, receives little notice from the campus and the community. However, even those aware of the center rarely stop in.

"People think the center is just for the minorities to interact, but that's not true," said Magdy Taha, facility manager at the cultural center. He attributes much of the center's obscurity to its poor location on campus -- in contrast with the HUB's central location -- and to a misunderstanding about the role of the center.

Taha said the center's function is to serve as an environment where all groups and nationalities can preserve their unique differences while accepting others' beliefs and values. He would like to see the expansion of the center in union with the HUB serve to bridge the cultural gap among different ethnic groups and nationalities on campus.

Alcorn's prints epitomize the need for such a bridge between cultures, as they illustrate Douglass' indomitable spirit which demanded an end to oppression and called for all Americans to embrace each other's cultural differences.

Alcorn said he hopes many students will visit his exhibit and respond in the comment book provided.

"I hope I can learn something from the students," he said, explaining that he values the comments of those who view his prints as an inspiring souvenir.

Those who miss the exhibit or wish to see more of Alcorn's prints can find them as illustrations in the companion books, Frederick Douglass: In His Own Words and Abraham Lincoln: In His Own Words, both edited by Milton Meltzer and published by Harcourt Brace & Company.