Timothy H. O’Sullivan (American, b. Ireland, about 1840–1882), Ancient Ruins in the Cañon de Chelle, N.M., detail, 1873, albumen silver print. Bank of America Collection

Moment in Time: A Legacy of Photographs / Works from the Bank of America Collection 

June 8–September 15, 2024 | Fifth Third Gallery and Sinton Gallery 

Moment in Time features more than 100 photographs dating from the invention of the medium in the 1830s through the mid-20th century. The exhibition includes compelling masterworks by William Henry Fox Talbot, Julia Margaret Cameron, Timothy O’Sullivan, Alfred Stieglitz, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, and Walker Evans, among others. All explored the breadth and depth of the camera’s ability to capture a moment in time. 

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Omar Victor Diop (born 1980), Jean-Baptiste Belley, detail, 2014, inkjet pigment print on Hahnemuhle paper, edition of 8 + 2 AP. ©Omar Victor Diop, Courtesy of Galerie MAGNIN-A, Paris

Posing Beauty in African American Culture

October 5, 2024–January 12, 2025 | Fifth Third Gallery and Taft Historic House

Posing Beauty in African American Culture traces the relationship between African American beauty and visual culture from the 1890s to the present through documentary, commercial, and fine art photography. Documentary photographs and portraits of famous and middle-class people alike present the public face of African American beauty, while commercial photographs demonstrate how fashion and advertising have constructed beauty standards. Finally, contemporary photographers—some of whom use themselves as a subject—encourage consideration of how images of beauty impact mass culture and individuals.

Posing Beauty includes more than 100 works by photographers including Charles “Teenie” Harris, Leonard Freed, Anthony Barboza, Carrie Mae Weems, Hank Willis Thomas, Sheila Pree Bright, Renee Cox, Mickalene Thomas, and others. Organized by Curatorial Assistance Traveling Exhibitions and curated by Deborah Willis, PhD, one of the nation’s leading historians of African American photography and culture, the exhibition will challenge existing notions of beauty while encouraging consideration of race, class, and gender within art and popular culture.

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Terri Kern (American, born 1964), Seamstress, wheel thrown, hand painted with underglaze, finished with clear glaze, 2 1/2 x 3 in. diam. Photo by Michael Svach. This vase is representative of the works that will be on view in Resilience.

Resilience: New Ceramic Works by Terri Kern

October 12, 2024–February 16, 2025 | Sinton Gallery and Taft Historic House

What does nature teach us about the ability to embrace, resist, or recover from life’s challenges? Local ceramic artist Terri Kern explores the theme of resilience in her latest creations. Inspired by the natural world, her symbolic works of art tell stories of love, loss, triumph, and hardship: tiny portraits dangle from the mouths of dragons; birds cautiously perch upon spools of thread; cages enclose empty swings. For the pieces in this exhibition, Kern also sought inspiration from a variety of objects in the Taft Museum of Art’s collection, including Chinese porcelains, Italian maiolica, and European portrait miniatures.   

Using wheel throwing and hand building techniques, Kern decorates her intimate narrative works, made from white earthenware, with layers of colors, creating vibrant glazed surfaces. Her award-winning ceramics have been featured in numerous publications and are held in public and private collections throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. Kern’s works have also been exhibited internationally, including shows in China, Japan, and Germany. 

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Independent Order of Odd Fellows Plaque, detail, 1850–1900, paint and gold leaf on wood. Collection American Folk Art Museum, New York, Gift of Kendra and Allan Daniel, Photo by José Andrés Ramírez

Mystery and Benevolence: Masonic and Odd Fellows Folk Art

February 1–May 11, 2025 | Fifth Third Gallery

Through compelling and cryptic works of art, Mystery and Benevolence brings to light the histories, symbolism, and beliefs of the Freemasons and the Independent Order of the Odd Fellows (IOOF)—two fraternal organizations with deep roots in American history. For decades, members across the country have come together to socialize, help others, and improve themselves and their communities. In Cincinnati, Taft Museum of Art co-founder Charles Phelps Taft and several members of his family were high-ranking Masons. Taft himself served on the building committee of the Masonic Center, the local branch of the Scottish Rite.

The exhibition features more than eighty works of art, including items once owned by the Daughters of Rebekah—the first lodge to include women—and the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows, founded as the African American counterpart to the IOOF. Sculptures, textiles, regalia, prints, and works of decorative art explore the main principles of the organizations: fellowship, charity, labor, passage, and wisdom. Elaborately stitched costumes, gilded regalia and jewelry, and richly embellished ceremonial objects provide a glimpse into the enigmatic world of these secret societies.

Mystery and Benevolence was organized by the American Folk Art Museum, New York, NY, from the Kendra and Allan Daniel Collection and is toured by International Arts & Artists, Washington, DC.