CAM Look | Camille Jones Shares a Poetic Response of Whitfield Lovell's Visitation | 5/21/24

Welcome to #CAMLook, your twice-weekly dose of the Cincinnati Art Museum. Every Tuesday and Thursday, a staff member or volunteer will share an object from the collection and pose questions for discussion. Please check back at 10 AM for a new discussion and a new artwork.
Today, Cincinnati Poet, Camille Jones shares a poetic response to Visitation: The Richmond Project, 2001, Parlor by Whitfield Lovell.
My granddaddy built this house
With his hands he stacked wood
hammered nails and shaped resilience
into these four walls
Home
My grandmama breathed life into each crevice
hand stitched every cloth
darkened her knees
for every root vegetable devoured at the table
and still left room for patience
Home
is where memories
yellow the ivory keys
and the forgotten tunes
still find their way into
your mindless humming
Home
where the smooth stride
Granddaddy was known for
now hiccups with the cane
he must use
but the letters
are still here from great aunts
and first cousins and grandnieces
in Virginia and North Carolina
and way up North in Illinois
stacked neatly or fanned
intricately across the desk
where Grandmama will read
aloud the latest happening
in the family tree
while the radio plays
The Roberta Martin Singers
as Granddaddy drifts asleep
and night officially dawns
Can love be quantified
when its inevitability
mimics the air in a room
forever life’s necessity
Living is but a practice
in remembering
in capturing memories
for stories told
in tomorrow’s tomorrow
Life is love here
So practice
Remember
and pass down
your stories
About the Poet:
Camille Jones is a Cincinnati native, writer, dancer, choreographer, and book lover, and considers herself a film nerd. As a University of Cincinnati dual-degree graduate, Jones earned both a B.S. in Psychology and a B.A. in English with a concentration in Creative Writing. She hosts the Always for the Culture podcast-an Elementz Hip Hop Cultural Art Center series, sponsored by the United Way. Jones also devotes her time to making a positive impact on growth and confidence building in youth and adults through her co-founded, black-women-led Hip Hop street dance team, (CA)^2 (CEE-AY-Squared), an acronym for confidently creating active achievers. Beyond creative career achievement, She works to be an ally and proponent of the arts as a means for social reform while working collaboratively with artists to amplify the voices of Cincinnati. Learn more about Camille Jones at boldjourney.com/news/meet-camille-jones-2.
Whitfield Lovell (American, b. Bronx, NY), Visitation: The Richmond Project, 2001, Parlor, dining table, organ, various objects, wooden walls 223, 1/4 x 161 3/4 in., Courtesy of American Federation of Arts, the artist, and DC Moore Gallery, New York

[@SoLTheArtist]

This felt like home, awesome job Camille! :D

[@camillejones2891]

Thank you so much, SoL! Your piece was absolutely beautiful!