A sculptor came to AACC to talk about how he used sculptures and ceramics to explore African-American history on Wednesday in the CADE Gallery.

Waymon Scott, a guest speaker, created sculptures taking real-life inspirations to explore African-American history. As part of Black History Month, he discussed how he wanted to bring more attention to the forgotten stories of the past. 

According to Scott, the character Griot in “Hopespeak and the Griot” is a keeper of these stories, a holder that would share the stories and the knowledge from the past. By creating these sculptures, Scott hoped to resist the people who are trying to erase African Americans’ history. 

Through the event, Waymon Scott also wanted to bring out the curiosity from people for African-American history. Furthermore, he wanted to encourage those who are passionate about art to continue to express themselves. 

“Art is a source of art and a medium of expression,”  Scott said. “It is a tool for liberation, and it is also an expression of hope. And they can do that, you know, they can use their hands, their thoughts, their ideas, to uplift the community and also educate.

He also created artworks based on famous African-Americans such as Congressman Elijah Cummings, Benjamin Banneker, Frederick Douglass, and Mary Lang.

People who attended the event ranged from those who have a deep passion for ceramics to students who wanted to expose themselves to a new culture.

“Even though we live so close to such large black populations, it’s still hard to see anything like in an exhibition, or the mainstream media, it’s hard to find things,” Alexander Thomas, a first-year studio arts student, stated. “So I was very excited” 

“I’ve been [at the event] from the very beginning so it’s just really cool to see everything set up and developed.” Tyler Seay, a second-year fine arts student, said. “I really appreciated the talk and I appreciate the art, so it was really cool”