By — Dylan Leverett

SE Campus’ new art exhibit hopes to highlight the determination of African-Americans in the face of adversity.

The Blues Talk: It Ain’t No Cliché Chit-Chat art exhibit is a collaboration between artist Vicki Meek and several poets. The exhibit highlights the blues as a tool for healing in African-American life.

Meek, who also manages the South Dallas Cultural Center, said in a press release that African-Americans historically have found alternative ways around struggle and pain through music such as the blues and the poetry in her artwork.

Instructional associate and SE curator Christopher Blay said he was originally drawn to the content of Meek’s work with Paul Quinn College and the Nasher Sculpture Center.

“I was attracted to her collage work and her use of history and culture,” he said.

Blay describes the exhibit as the examination of how African-Americans have overcome strife.

“It’s about the perseverance of African-Americans in culture, and it’s an exploration of coping through blues and art,” he said. “There are clichés that are thrown out that help people look over the struggles that African-Americans face.”

Blay said he hopes TCC students will enjoy the chance to view Meek’s work.

“The mission of the gallery is to give students the opportunity to see art because they usually work and go to school,” he said. “And [they] don’t normally get an opportunity to see what’s going on in the Dallas-Fort Worth art world.”

Blues Talk: It Ain’t No Cliché Chit-Chat will be on display in Art Corridor II until Nov. 30.