2025 Melvin Van Peebles Symposium
Artists Alicia Brown, Lance Johnson to Join Actress Erika Alexander in March at Ohio Wesleyan Event
DELAWARE, Ohio – Visual artists Alicia Brown and Lance Johnson will highlight Ohio Wesleyan University's 2025 Melvin Van Peebles Symposium, which also will feature award-winning actress and activist Erika Alexander as its keynote speaker.
Born in Jamaica, Alicia Brown uses portraiture to investigate colonial histories and legacies. She will have an exhibition in OWU's Richard M. Ross Art Museum and speak during the March 28-30 Van Peebles Symposium. Born and raised in New York, Lance Johnson will present a performance art piece that combines dance, music, and his signature graffiti-inspired art during the three-day conference.
Both artists will join accomplished actress, trailblazing activist, entrepreneur, creator, producer, and director Erika Alexander ("Living Single") at the 2025 biennial event. The Van Peebles Symposium will be held on Ohio Wesleyan's Delaware campus and explore the theme of "Disruption!! Signal Fires, Reckoning, and Jubilee Through Black Art." The theme ties back to the Harlem Renaissance of the Roaring Twenties when a group of "disruptive innovators" in the Manhattan neighborhood launched Fire!!, a short-lived magazine dedicated to Black artists.
'The Transformative Nature of Identity'
During the symposium, attendees also will be able to meet Brown and view her exhibition "Caribbean Transformers: Becoming and Being in the New World." The exhibition explores "the transformative nature of identity through space and time" and was uniquely inspired by Caribbean traditions and cultural practices juxtaposed with her son's Transformer toy.
"Members of my family serve as characters within a narrative that examines the transformations Caribbean natives undergo when they migrate to new spaces," Brown shares. "Through the stories woven into these drawings, I aim to highlight the inner conflict of being a foreigner – both within and outside one's own country of origin – and the weight of societal expectations about appearance and behavior.
"Drawing inspiration from the history of the Caribbean and art, including medieval and 16th century renaissance periods, and blending these with contemporary global trends, I explore the layered ideals associated with identity," Brown says. "This integration reveals the tension between cultural norms, personal adaptation, and the challenges of navigating modern society while negotiating the expectations projected onto those labeled as 'foreigners.' Through this series, I seek to illuminate the complexities of identity in a world shaped by migration, transformation, and historical legacy."
Celebrating, Supporting, and Building Community
Johnson says the theme of the upcoming Van Peebles Symposium has special significance for him.
"When I was 14, my mom showed me a PBS documentary of the Harlem Renaissance that completely changed my life," Johnson says. "It was like a seed was planted when I saw all these artists (musicians, writers, visual artists, singers, dancers) that looked like me all coming together celebrating each other, supporting each other's art, and building an amazing community that became legendary.
"From that moment," he recalls, "I knew I wanted to be an artist and be a part of a community like that. That has always been a motivation for me. To celebrate community and collaborate with artists and communities whenever I can."
During the Van Peebles Symposium, Johnson will oversee a performance that includes dancer Candace Igeleke. They will perform outdoors utilizing, as a stage, the Back Porch public art sculpture created by 2013 Ohio Wesleyan graduate Andrew Wilson to celebrate generations of OWU Black lives and legacies.
"The foundation of each piece I create is the layering of words throughout each canvas," Johnson says. "I feel that words of inspiration are the soul of my work. Words have power and my goal as an artist is to create art that will resonate positively and evolve with each viewing."
Johnson also spent time on campus in November meeting with first-year Ohio Wesleyan students as they completed a shared semester-long exploration of "Move: Mobility, Migration, and Belonging," including the powerful cultural forces that shape people's lives. He will exhibit paintings inspired by the visit beginning April 13 at the Ross Art Museum, 60 S. Sandusky St., Delaware.
During the 2025 Van Peebles Symposium, Ohio Wesleyan also will host a free public screening of the film "American Fiction" featuring keynote speaker Erika Alexander, both on the OWU campus and the campus of South Carolina-based Claflin University, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) and Ohio Wesleyan's sister school.
Symposium Tickets Available
Symposium tickets are available now at owu.edu/VanPeebles, with early purchase pricing available through Feb. 28, 2025. Ticket prices are:
- General admission – $135 per person, $155 after March 1.
- Ohio Wesleyan alumni, faculty and staff, and all non-OWU graduate and undergraduate students – $115 per person, $135 after March 1.
- Current Ohio Wesleyan students – $25 per person. (OWU students volunteering to work at the symposium will be admitted free.)
- VIP meet-and-greet with Erika Alexander – $75 per person, available only with symposium ticket purchase. (This hour-long reception will precede the closing banquet. Limited VIP tickets are available.)
To purchase symposium tickets, visit owu.edu/VanPeebles.
The 2025 symposium is being planned by representatives of Ohio Wesleyan's Department of Africana, Gender, and Identity Studies; Department of Journalism and Communication; Department of Performing Arts; and Office of the Chief Diversity Officer in collaboration with a committee that includes representatives of Claflin University and the professional arts and education communities.
Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation's premier liberal arts universities. Located in Delaware, Ohio, the private university offers more than 70 undergraduate majors and competes in 24 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Through its signature experience, the OWU Connection, Ohio Wesleyan teaches students to understand issues from multiple academic perspectives, volunteer in service to others, build a diverse and global perspective, and translate classroom knowledge into real-world experience through internships, research, and other hands-on learning. Ohio Wesleyan is featured in the book "Colleges That Change Lives" and included on the U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review "Best Colleges" lists. Connect with OWU expert interview sources at owu.edu/experts or learn more at owu.edu.