The King Street Gallery at Montgomery College and the Arts Institute presents Making Marks, an exhibition featuring works by noted artists and educators, Percy Martin and Michael B. Platt, and features works by several artistic associates of the two DC artists and their respective studios. Making Marks includes work by Percy Martin, Michael B. Platt, Carol A. Beane, Dwight Tyler, Lynn Sylvester, Francine Haskins, Duane Gail Shaw-Clemons, Duane Winfield, and Winston Harris.
Martin and Platt’s contributions to the visual arts DMV region, particularly in the field of printmaking, have been recognized in major exhibitions of both artists’ work in recent years. Known for their generosity of spirit as artists and teachers, both shared their knowledge, enthusiasm, and even their personal studios spaces with others, contributing tremendously to the art community of the DMV. Martin, a longtime teacher at Sidwell Friends, opened the doors of his WD Workshop to all comers for years, creating a shared space for printmakers. Platt, who taught at Northern Virginia Community College as well as at Howard University, passed away in 2019 at the peak of his career and is represented by over twenty works in the exhibition, many made in collaboration with his wife, poet Carol A. Beane.
The recent documentary film, Black Printmakers of Washington, D.C.: Percy Martin and Michael B. Platt, produced and directed by Susan Goldman, and narrated by Susan Stamberg, highlights much of the work of Martin and Platt. The film served as a major inspiration for this exhibition and will be screened during the exhibition’s opening reception.
Making Marks runs November 14–December 18, 2024, at the King Street Gallery, with a reception on Thursday, November 21st, from 4:00 – 7:00pm. During the reception, a screening of the documentary film, Black Printmakers of Washington, D.C.: Percy Martin and Michael B. Platt, will be presented in the MC Cultural Arts building (Theater One) at 4:00pm, followed by refreshments at the King Street Gallery from 5–7 p.m.
The event is located at the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Arts Center. For more information, visit https://www.
Free and open to the public.
