Image: Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton
The Beaverbrook Art Gallery has opened 'Still Here: Preserving Our Legacy', a multimedia exhibition that focuses on Black families in New Brunswick whose histories stretch back to the 1700s. The show runs from July 18 to December 13, 2026, and brings together archival research, oral histories, poetry and photography to explore heritage, community, resilience and identity through the stories of fifteen families.
According to the gallery, the exhibition was developed by The Still Here Initiative, which includes artists Thandiwe McCarthy and Gary Weekes, historian Dr. Mary McCarthy, and administrator Jeannie Rediker. The project traces intergenerational family histories in the province and frames them as part of Black history in New Brunswick. The gallery describes the exhibition as a reflection on both shared memory and individual family narratives.
The installation features a mirrored centrepiece of contemporary portraits surrounded by documentary-style images. The gallery says the presentation is designed to create a dialogue between past and present, and to invite visitors to consider their own place within Canada’s collective story. For each family represented, Thandiwe McCarthy has written an original poem, while Gary Weekes’ photographs form a key visual component of the exhibition.
'Got It.' The exhibition is accompanied by an art history book titled 'Still Here: Preserving Our Legacy', published by Goose Lane Editions. The book combines historical documents, first-person narratives, poetry and photography, and is available through the Beaverbrook Boutique. The gallery has also identified the book as part of the broader project surrounding the exhibition.
The public opening reception for 'Still Here: Preserving Our Legacy' is scheduled for July 31 from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the Harrison McCain Pavilion. The artist will be in attendance, and the event will include a book launch and signing, as well as a performance by Dee Hernandez. Admission is free, and light refreshments will be served.
The exhibition is being presented alongside the Beaverbrook’s July programming, which also includes Artist in Residence Colleen Wolstenholme. The gallery says Wolstenholme’s exhibition, 'Colleen Wolstenholme: Hyperobjectivity Works 1992–2025', is currently on display, and visitors are invited to view her work and visit her at the Bruno Bobak Artist-in-Residence Studio. Wolstenholme is described by the gallery as a visual artist, jeweller, sculptor and educator born in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, and her residency is supported by the Sheila Hugh Mackay Foundation.
