Clarksville, TN – The Customs House Museum & Cultural Center, in collaboration with Crafting Blackness Initiative, proudly presents ‘Embracing Blackness: Diasporic Unions: Artists’ Panel and Dance Performance by Giovanni Rodriguez on Thursday, July 10th, 2025, from 5:00pm – 8:00pm at the Customs House Museum & Cultural Center galleries and courtyard during Art Walk.
The Embracing Blackness panelists are Samuel Dunson, Hattie Marshall Duncan, Rod McGaha, Christine Roth, Gary L. White, and Carlton Wilkinson, moderated by co-curator Karlota Contreras-Koterbay and Customs House Museum’s Curator of Exhibitions, Terri Jordan. The panel discussion will be from 5:00pm – 6:30pm in the Customs House Museum auditorium. The dance performance by the esteemed Giovanni Rodiguez and friends will take place in the museum’s courtyard from 6:30pm – 7:30pm.
Co-curated by Crafting Blackness Initiative co-director, Karlota Contreras-Koterbay, and Tennessee Craft’s board director, Carlton Wilkinson, the curatorial locus of Embracing Blackness revolves around ‘Blackness as Inclusion,’ assertions of the vital reality of Black gazes’ capacity to embrace cultures. The panelists will discuss their practices as Black artists employing craft in visualizing their empowered visibility in relation to the theme of multicultural heritage and Blackness.
About the Panelists
The arts have played a major role in Samuel Dunson’s life since his youth. He was fortunate enough to be born into a household where exposure to the arts was as important as academic study. Samuel’s fine arts began at Tennessee State University. Early in his academic and artistic pursuit, Samuel chose to concentrate on 3D works, but soon thereafter he moved towards painting and drawing. Upon receiving his BS in Studio Art, he searched and found representation for his paintings. From his exhibition record and portfolio, he gained admission into the Savannah College of Art and Design under a Presidential Fellowship award. After two successful years, he received an MFA in painting. Samuel now exhibits his paintings in group and solo shows on a regular basis. His works have been reported and critiqued in art journals and newspapers alike. Samuel teaches painting, drawing and 2D design, as well as Art Appreciation at Tennessee State University. He has been employed by the University since 2000.
Self-taught sculptor Hattie Marshall-Duncan, of Jackson, turns clay and found objects into highly distinctive masterworks. As a child, she was inspired by the drawings of her father, a sharecropper who was “a folk artist, though he didn’t know it,” according to Hattie. She created art from a young age, but it was not until the late 1990s that she moved into sculpture, for which she is now best known. Hattie began to experiment with making her own “paper clay” in a blender, based on a recipe she saw in a magazine. Using scrap wire, milk jugs, and plastic bottles as the base, she molded the paper clay to create distinctive, visually arresting figures. Once shaped and dried, she completed them with paint and found objects, usually common kitchen items such as eggshells, coffee grounds (for hair), and plastic nets. Thus, her unique style of sculpture was born. A deeply religious woman, Hattie trusts her intuition to guide her in her art. Much of her work depicts family and community members who are a vital part of her social network; some of it is fanciful and abstract.
Rod McGaha is a multidisciplinary artist based in Nashville, known for his work as a photographer, sound artist, and trumpet player. His art focuses on the experiences of Black women, highlighting their resilience, grace, and the injustices they face, while also celebrating Black joy and empowerment. Through exhibitions that blend photography, soundscapes, and vibrant colors, Rod explores themes of freedom, healing, and justice. His work often incorporates black-and-white imagery with materials and sound elements, creating immersive experiences that emphasize the triumph of the human spirit.
Christine Roth is a ceramic artist based in Clarksville, Tennessee, where she has lived for the past 20 years. A proud member of a military family, Christine served in the U.S. Army for six years. Her artistic journey has been shaped by her life experiences, including a formative two-year residency in South Korea. It was there that she received her first Korean pottery pension and deepened her appreciation for traditional ceramic techniques and cultural aesthetics. Christine now works out of her personal studio in Clarksville, where she creates a range of functional and sculptural ceramics. Her work often reflects the intersections of discipline, tradition, and storytelling inspired by her military background and international experiences. In addition to her studio practice, she shares her passion for pottery through teaching at the Clay Lady Artist’s Campus in Nashville.
Gary L. White, a native of Nashville, received his Master of Fine Arts from the University of Tennessee Knoxville in Ceramics and his Bachelor of Fine Arts at Watkins College of Art and Design. Since then, his works have been included in solo shows and group exhibitions throughout the country. White conducts a cross-cultural visual investigation that explores folkways, identity, and the experiences of the “southern Other.” White is the College of Art’s first Belmont Faculty Fellow teaching ceramics. His work is inspired by the rich complex history of the American South from the perspective of a multi-ethnic southern experience. His work pays homage to the past and celebrates the present. He gathers inspiration from histories, life ways, Ancestors, tribal traditions, folklore, and religious practices to create hybrid archetypes. These Archetypes become personal expressions of identity, time, place, and life ways of the old and new South. The sculptures transport the viewer back in time to revisit the past and ponder the present. These characters become guardians, guides, and storytellers. Within them hold metaphorical memory, archived experiences, and wisdom.
About the Customs House Museum
Located in the heart of Historic Downtown Clarksville, Tennessee, the Customs House Museum and Cultural Center is the state’s second-largest general interest museum with over 35,000 square feet of exhibit space and houses hands-on activities and special events. Membership and admission information can be found at customshousemuseum.org.
Regular museum hours are 10:00am to 5:00pm Tuesday through Saturday and 1:00pm to 5:00pm on Sundays. Adult admission is $12.00 (18-64). Senior Citizens (65+), Adult Military, CMCSS Teachers, and College Students are $9.00. Children ages 3 to 17 are $5.00, and children 2 years or younger and Museum members are free.
The Customs House Museum is located at 200 South Second Street. For more information, call 931.648.5780 or visit their website at www.customshousemuseum.org
