Pedagogy Study Hall

The Center for Art, Design, and Visual Culture (CADVC) presents Pedagogy Study Hall, a collaborative exhibition, research project, and public humanities residency by interdisciplinary artist Tomashi Jackson and policy analyst and economic advocate Nia K. Evans. The project examines systems of investment and disinvestment in the arts and humanities as reflections of broader civic and economic structures. Drawing on Baltimore’s grassroots history of cultural labor and social justice organizing, Pedagogy Study Hall offers a multilayered model for public memory, artistic research, and civic pedagogy.

Pedagogy Study Hall is not a static exhibition but a process — an accumulative and iterative space where teaching, learning, and collective study unfold in real time. Jackson and Evans define pedagogy not only as the philosophy and practice of teaching, but also as the systems of decision-making and environments that make learning possible.

The CADVC exhibition presents a spatialized archive of research collected through two years of public programs, interviews, and collaborative inquiry. Materials include audio and video recordings, a mural documenting a timeline of salient events, zines, press clippings, archival documents, and program-based ephemera. Programming explores the interplay of art, law, policy, education, and community activism in shaping the cultural landscape. Key elements include:

• Timeline Mural: A graphite-washed wall charting arts and humanities legislation and other datapoints from the founding of the NEA and NEH through the present, with new entries added during the exhibition based on Baltimore interviews and research.
• Video Installations: A series of interviews with historians, civil rights attorneys, and Baltimore cultural workers, expanded over the run of the show. In the CADVC theater, a looped projection of Tommy Tonight — Jackson’s drag alter ego — critiques cultural institutions such as the library, the museum, and the artist residency space. This includes On My Own (Devotions in the BMA & at Lisa’s House in Roxbury) (2023), produced at the Baltimore Museum of Art during Jackson’s residency with CADVC. At night, a large-scale amphitheater projection extends the exhibition outward into public space.
• Public Programs: The exhibition functions as a forum for active research. Live interviews and conversations recorded during public programs will be added to the gallery over time, generating new content and extending the exhibition’s evolving form. These materials will provide the foundation for a multimedia publication, edited by Evans and scheduled for release in 2027.

Across its run, Pedagogy Study Hall will host a wide-ranging series of public events including reading groups, drawing sessions, workshops, and roundtables. Highlights include:

• October 9 — Opening Reception & Artist Talk (5:30–7:30 p.m.; moderated by Teri Henderson)
• October 10 — Visionaries and Outcasts Reading with Tomashi Jackson, Nia K. Evans, Michael Brenson, and Annie Storr (10–11:30 a.m.)
• October 11 — Talk/Draw with Jackson, Evans, Michael Hunt, and members of With Us For Us coalition. DJ: M’Balou Camara (1–4 p.m.)
• October 17 — Public Arts & Humanities Panel (curated by Christopher Brooks) (12–1:30 p.m.)
• October 24 — Public Drawing Session with Alx Velozo (2–4 p.m.)
• October 29 — Dresher Center for the Humanities — CURRENTS: Arts & Humanities in Baltimore (12–1 p.m.)
• October 30 — Poetry Workshop with Ainsley Burrows (5–7:30 p.m.)
• November 5 — Nicole King on Poppleton and activist print culture (3–4 p.m.)
• November 12 — Public Drawing Session with Alx Velozo (3–5 p.m.)
• November 13 — Denise Meringolo on public history, digital publishing, and the Baltimore Uprising (12–1:30 p.m.)
• November 19 — Roundtable on Education History & Policy, Part II, with Tomashi Jackson and Nia K. Evans (live) & Davarian Baldwin and Matt Cregor (via Zoom) (12–1:30 p.m.)
• November 20 — With Us For Us in Conversation with Nia Evans (6–8 p.m.)
• November 22 — Closing Talk/Draw with Eric Mack, Tomashi Jackson, and Nia Evans. DJ: M’Balou Camara (1–4 p.m.)

Program details and updates will be posted at cadvc.umbc.edu.

About the Contributors

Tomashi Jackson is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice combines painting, printmaking, and sculpture with archival research into public policy, civil rights, and histories of segregation. Her work has been widely exhibited, including solo shows at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, ICA Philadelphia, and the Parrish Art Museum, and is held in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and the High Museum of Art.

Nia K. Evans is the Executive Director of the Boston Ujima Project, an economic and cultural justice organization. Trained in labor relations, education, and policy, Evans has advanced community-led funding initiatives and is co-creator of The Frames Debate Project, a multimedia initiative linking policy and lived experience. She is editor of the forthcoming Pedagogy Study Hall publication.

Visitor Information

Admission is free.

Pedagogy Study Hall will be open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Parking is free during evening and weekend hours, and metered parking is available other times. Please visit here for directions and parking information.

Visitors who need specific accommodations to attend our events or exhibitions, should contact the CADVC at cadvc@umbc.edu or 410-455-3188.

This event is supported in part by the Arts+ initiative.