A recording from the March 19, 2022 afternoon dialogue exploring African art and the objects in the current exhibition Power & Purpose: Reflections on the African Art Collection. What it Means to be in Power which brought forward three alumnae voices: Tammy Appling-Cabading, Enobong Akan-Etuk, and Briana Swain.

This program was presented in collaboration with the Center of Women and Gender Equity (CWGE), the Ethnic Studies Department, and 44 Days.

About the Panelists:

Enobong Akan-Etuk is a Nigerian-American artist who is local to the Bay Area. Her work spans across multiple disciplines within the visual and performing arts. Eno style is as lively as her spirit and is best described as smooth yet distinctive. She enjoys creating pieces that challenge the status quo of "cohesion" by creating fluid transitions with bold details for an emphatic touch. She received her Bachelors of Art in Art Therapy from Saint Mary's College of CA in 2016 and continues to explore the realm of art activism and expanding her art and jewelry business.

Tammy Appling-Cabading received her Master of Arts in Leadership and BA in Human & Community Services from SMC, she cultivated qualitative leadership capacities that has allowed her to engage with people and create meaningful experiences. Tammy is an adult facilitator, healer, mediator, and poet who is in the process of having a collection of her poems published. Currently, she is a Mediator & Conflict Coach for Mass General Brigham in Boston and a Reiki Healer.

Briana Swain believes in herself and the power of her words. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Saint Mary’s College of CA. Leaning into the tradition of expansion, Briana writes to envision new manifestations of Black consciousness, subvert the colonial gaze, ascend possibilities, and exist in humanity as a site of liberation for the African Diaspora. Swain has received a scholarship to The Juniper Summer Writing Institute and is published in Pleiades. Her art has been selected for exhibitions presented by the Sebastopol Center for the Arts, the Center on Race, Immigration & Social Justice at Sac State and Saint Mary’s College Museum of Art. She currently works as Program Coordinator for No More Tears, a violence and crime prevention workshop held in San Quentin State Prison, is the curator for Studio One, a poetry reading series in Oakland, and lives in Sacramento.


About the Exhibition:

Power & Purpose, on view from February 16 through June 19, 2022, brings forth a visual engagement of history and cultural celebration. Featuring forty selected objects from the college's permanent collection, narratives of beauty, hierarchy, motherhood, masculinity, spirituality, sustainability, rites of passage, and diversity speak to Africa as a continent, embodying tradition and cultural practice. Guest curator Dr. Littles approaches Power & Purpose through the lens of healing and reclamation.