23 June 2025
By Ryan Whirty
Contributing Writer
A new art exhibition now on display at Armstrong Park examines the contrast and dissonance between the United States’ lofty ideals of democracy and equality and the harsh reality of the country’s abhorrent history of racial oppression and subjugation.
However, the organizers, sponsors and artists behind the exhibit said their goal with the exhibition is racial reconciliation and societal healing.
The exhibition, a joint effort between the Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation (DTRF) and The Stories of Us, involved the contributions of several artists, who created a series of 10 sculptures that were unveiled in an event Thursday on Juneteenth at Louis Armstrong Park.
Visual Artist Monique Lorden speaks during opening ceremonies at Armstrong Park, held on Juneteenth, an art exhibition that examines the contrast and dissonance between the United States’ lofty ideals of democracy and equality and the harsh reality of the country’s abhorrent history of racial oppression and subjugation.
Photo courtesy of Ashley Lorraine Photography
“We hope that through telling the truth about our story, everyone can come, and we can bring together all walks of life, with different life experiences, to see our beauty through art,” said Monique Trusclair Maddox, president and CEO of DTRF.
“Everyone who comes sees something different in the works [of art],” she added. “Each of them can be standing next to a person with a different story to tell than them, and that way they enrich their lives and have their own experience through that.”
The Stories of Us co-founder Ashley Shaw Scott Adjaye said she hopes people who view the new exhibition can ultimately feel a connection to each other that transcends the sins of our country’s past.
“I believe in the power of art to reflect our humanity – particularly our shared history and shared future,” she said. “For me this project affirms that power and our deep inter-connectedness.”
The exhibition features a series of 10 sculptures, each by a different artist, including Francks Deceus, Alanis Forde, Leasho Johnson, Laolu, Monique Lorden, Marryam Moma, Annie Moran, Teneille Prosper, Ayo Scott and Ashley Teamer.
The sculptures will be on display at Armstrong Park through July 2, when the display will be featured at Essence Fest before traveling to Cleveland.
The Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation is a partnership between the descendants of those enslaved by Jesuits early in Louisiana’s history, and the modern-day successors of the Jesuit enslavers. The goals of the DTRF include supporting the education of current and future descendants of slaves owned by the Jesuits; investing in truth, racial healing and programs in communities across the country that help transform our society; and providing emergency support for infirm and elderly descendants. More information can be found at www.descendants.org.
Maddox said the new exhibit perfectly encapsulates the goals and missions of DTRF by using creative works to stimulate people to explore, examine and change their attitudes and beliefs toward and about each other.
Attending a ribbon cutting ceremony for the exhibit were from left: Cheryl Dunn, Descendants Truth and Reconciliation Foundation (DTRF); Alana R. Harris and Frederick “Wood” Delahoussaye from the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Economy, City of New Orleans; Cheryllyn Branche, Descendant and DTRF Board Member Emerita; Sydney, 13-year old Descendant; Ashley Shaw Scott Adjaye, The Stories of Us; Monique Lorden, visual artist; Annie Moran, visual artist; Ashley Vaughn, DTRF.
Photo courtesy of Ashley Lorraine Photography
“Art will help us heal collectively when we look at the history of America,” she said. “It’s important to use art in that way, as a non-verbal way of connecting people.”
As a country-wide civic information nonprofit organization aiming to inspire cultural storytelling, The Stories of Us explores the two principles that form the basis of the Declaration of Independence – equality and solidarity.
The organization’s programs encourage members of the public to explore our shared past, understand our present and reshape a potential future in which unity and egalitarianism become reality for all.
The Stories of Us was launched in Detroit in 2024, but the organization has also exhibited in Atlanta, at the United Nations headquarters and in Brooklyn Bridge Park in New York. Members of the public can visit TheStoriesOfUs.org and Instagram to add their personal stories to the overarching, far-reaching story of America and its future.
“Our mission at The Stories of Us is to encourage transformative solidarity,” Adjaye said. “Like the theory of ubuntu – I am who I am because of who we all are – transformative solidarity acknowledges that your dignity is my own and vice versa.”
This article originally published in the June 23, 2025 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.