Jun 1, 2025
12:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Changing Hearts | Changing Minds

Immerse yourself in a vibrant art exhibit, where creativity comes alive.
Join us for an inspiring Artist Talkback and Reception.

Sunday, June 1, 2025, from 12 to 2 p.m.

 

Changing Hearts | Changing Minds is an exploration of transformation, empathy, and cultural reflection through visual storytelling. This exhibition brings together work that challenges perception, confronts injustice, and encourages both emotional and intellectual engagement. Each piece serves as a catalyst for dialogue—inviting viewers to reflect on identity, resistance, community, and healing, while examining these qualities and their own personal place within our larger social system. The title reflects the curatorial aim: to create a space where art moves us to
feel deeply and think critically. Far from passive, these works demand presence and participation. In a divided world, Changing Hearts | Changing Minds offers space to listen, feel, and shift perspective. It is art as mirror, provocation, and invitation to change.

–D Walters, Curator

In addition, First Parish in Lexington owns two pieces of art that are part of the exhibit: African American artists Susan Thompson, quilter, and Ekua Holmes, collagist. These were purchased for the church by two First Parish delegates to the UUUM. The quilt “In the Spirit of the Grandmothers” hangs in the sanctuary, the Ekua Holmes print in the back entrance to the church.  Susan Thompson is a major figure in the Roxbury Art community, and Ekua Holmes recently had an exhibit of her work at the MFA. Follen also has an Ekua Holmes piece. Here we have two examples of what churches can do to diversify the art on their walls, or “decenter whiteness,” as it is often described.

Visual Artists Bios

Jaypix Belmer is a Boston-born African American photographer and visual storyteller whose work explores community, identity, and culture. A graduate of New England Art Institute, they use. photography to highlight underrepresented communities, especially BIPOC and LGBTQ+ groups. Known for bold, soulful portraiture and community engagement, Jaypix also works on commercial and archival projects centered around urban storytelling. Instagram: @jaypixworx |@pixworxusa | jaypixworx.com

L’Merchie Frazier is a visual activist, historian, poet, and public artist. She is the Executive Director of Creative and Strategic Planning at SPOKE ARTS INC. and is a former Director at the Museum of African American History. Her work spans five centuries of Black and Indigenous history,
emphasizing justice and memory. Her art lives in institutions like the Smithsonian and The White House. Frazier is a 2023 Boston Foundation Brother Thomas Fellow and a member of both the Boston Reparations Task Force and MA State Arts Commission. Her poetry appears in Wheatley at 250. IG: @l_merchie | lmerchiefrazier.org

Sudanese American artist and educator Khalid Kodi creates socially engaged work focused on justice, identity, and resilience. Known for collaborative projects across Africa, he uses art and storytelling to bridge divides. His work—spanning sculpture, installation, and painting—has
been featured in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and major exhibitions. Kodi teaches at Northeastern University and is the recipient of grants from ArtOmi and the St. Botolph Club Foundation. Email: khalid.kodi@gmail.com

Hakim Raquib is a Boston-based photographer whose emotionally resonant work blends photography, painting, and printmaking. After early involvement in the civil rights movement, Raquib studied at MIT and the Photographer’s Training Program in Roxbury. His career began in commercial photography but evolved into a deeply personal exploration of spirit and vision. His work ranges from African ruins to expressive portraits, always driven by intuition, light, and inner truth.