Tuned to the Spirit Photo Exhibit
The A.E. Backus Museum and Gallery will present Tuned to the Spirit: Photographs from the Sacred Steel Community March 11 - May 8, 2022. The Museum is honored to be debuting the traveling exhibition that will highlight more than twenty years of "Sacred Steel" photography, which has a notable Fort Pierce connection. The opening reception will be Friday, March 18 from 6:00-8:00 pm, with the exhibition on view at 500 North Indian River Drive, in Historic Fort Pierce, Florida.
In the late 1930s, two related African American Holiness-Pentecostal churches began incorporating a novel, modern instrument into worship services – the electric steel guitar. The expressive and energetic music rendered on the instrument soon became essential to the spirited worship services. Today, with more than fifty congregations throughout the state, Florida is a stronghold for the House of God and Church of the Living God, where musicians have passed down the unique musical tradition known as “sacred steel” for generations. Two of these churches (House of God No. 1 and House of God No. 2) are located in the City of Fort Pierce.
In three decades of work, photographer and folklorist Robert L. Stone has documented this music and church culture through images (photography, video) and audio recording. Tuned to the Spirit presents a selection of more than thirty soulful images, augmented by music performances accessed in the exhibition through QR Codes on visitors’ mobile devices. The Arhoolie Foundation’s 2000 documentary film, “Sacred Steel: The Steel Guitar Tradition of the House of God Churches,” will also be available to see historic footage of these important musicians.
During his tenure with the Florida Folklife Program, Stone discovered in South Florida the use of steel guitars in African American Pentecostal House of God churches. This decades-long tradition was relatively unknown outside of that small religious community, prompting him to write Sacred Steel: Inside an African American Steel Guitar Tradition and produce eight CD albums of the music for Arhoolie Records. His latest book, Can’t Nobody Do Me Like Jesus! Photographs from the Sacred Steel Community was published in 2020 by University Press of Mississippi.
The exhibition’s opening reception will be held Friday, March 18 from 6:00-8:00 pm, with Remarks at 6:30 pm. Special musical guests will be Elder Elton Noble, pastor of House of God No. 2 in Fort Pierce, and family musicians presenting the joyful sounds of this rich tradition. Dr. Eric Lewis Williams, Curator of Religion at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture will speak. Members are admitted free; $20 for Not-Yet Members (or join at the door).
On Saturday, March 19 at 4:00 pm, the Backus Museum will convene a panel discussion, “When the Spirit Moves: Appreciating a Unique American Steel Guitar Tradition” with guests Dr. Eric Lewis Williams, Curator of Religion, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture; Elder Elton Noble, steel guitarist and pastor of Fort Pierce House of God No. 2; and Robert L. Stone, folklorist and photographer. The program will illuminate this dynamic cultural tradition, with live music demonstration. Tickets are $5 with Limited Seating and available at www.BackusMuseum.org. Attendees are asked to please observe all public health guidance.
Tuned to the Spirit: Photographs from the Sacred Steel Community is drawn from The Robert Stone Sacred Steel Archive, part of the Arhoolie Foundation Collection. The exhibition is supported by the Arhoolie Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the documentation, preservation, and celebration of regional roots music and its makers. Learn more at www.Arhoolie.org
This is a travelling exhibit. If you have connections to potential museum exhibit venues, please PM me. Thanks.
