The “blk alter” of Avery R. Young’s poetic vision makes its stunning debut in a multidisciplinary arsenal entitled, neckbone: visual verses. Young’s years of supernatural fieldwork within the black experience and the gospel of his transitions between poetry, art and music, become the stitch, paint brush, metaphor, and narrative of arresting visual metaphors of childhood teachings and traumas, identity, and the personal reverence of pop culture’s beauty and beast. A mastermind in a new language of poetry, that engages and challenges readers to see beyond the traditional spaces poems are shaped and exist, Young’s neckbone extends tentacles in literature, art, and activism--redefining the collective and the sermon of the “blk” experience.
In 2002, art collector and philanthropist Madeleine P. Plonsker began traveling to Cuba to uncover Havana's thriving art scene. The Light in Cuban Eyes: Lake Forest College's Madeleine P. Plonsker Collection of Contemporary Cuban Photography focuses on Cuban photography between 1992 and 2012. These years cover Cuba’s "Special Period," a desperate time resulting from the withdrawal of financial support from the former Soviet Union that continues to present day.
