A Prince exhibition, curated by teenagers who don’t really like Prince
In a large gallery space in downtown Newark, where the art exhibit “Remembering the Purple One: A Tribute to Prince Rogers Nelson” has just been extended through Dec. 31, the writing is on the wall: This is not a show curated by Prince fans.
“I wouldn’t listen to Prince’s music,” reads a large purple text beneath a series of three portraits of the 1980s artist. A Prince exhibition, curated by teenagers who don’t really like Prince
Several teachers openly admit that they do not understand his music or his style. It’s not because Prince’s music appealed to a younger generation – on the contrary. The curators are high school students — born long after the release of Prince’s 1984 album “Purple Rain” — and many of them didn’t know much about the artist until now.
That hasn’t stopped the show, which for the first time features 300 objects on loan from a private collector, from attracting repeat visitors, including members of the New York/New Jersey Prince Fan Club. Qua’Asia Dosier, curator, knows why. “People enjoy coming here and talking to us,” she says.
Ms. Dosier, 16, a junior at Newark Arts High School, is one of dozens of students from four Newark schools who curated, built and installed the show, which opened in late September. The teenagers, who also serve as teachers, would have chosen a different pop star if it had been entirely up to them. Some suggested SZA, the singer-songwriter who grew up in nearby Maplewood, NJ. But Prince presented a challenge and ordered the exhibition’s launch.
“We wanted to choose someone who would make sure he or she had to learn something,” said Thomas Owens, executive director of Mentor Newark, the nonprofit that brought the students together and pointed them toward an exploration of art exhibits. Access was also a factor. David Byer-Tyre, a Long Island artist recruited to guide the group through the curation, knows collector Rich Benson. Mr. Benson, a Minneapolis physical therapist and Prince superfan, lent items including guitars, costume replicas and performance footage from Paisley Park, Prince’s home and production studio.
For visitors, the “Remembering the Purple One” experience varies entirely by age, Mr. Owens and several curators said. Teens who stop by after school for a 20-minute tour led by classmates linger over photos of a young, pre-superstar Prince wearing an Afro or a youth basketball uniform. “That’s relatable to them,” Mr. Owens said. Clint Laourdakis, one of the founders of the New York/New Jersey Prince Fan Clubsaid the members, who are generally in their 40s and 50s, drawn to the guitars and a hologram of the 1991 record “Diamonds and Pearls.”
“The original CD and cassettes of that album came with a small hologram photo,” said Mr. Laourdakis of Whiting, NJ. But in Newark, “they got their hands on a big version of that hologram, and it’s actually pretty cool. .”
Serious Prince fans appreciate the opportunity to share insights and tidbits with a younger generation.
“They want to talk about their own experiences,” said Danna Prado, 17, a senior at Arts High. “You feel their awe. I think that’s great, and so does she.”
That’s a relief for Mr. Owens. When administrators at Arts High asked him this spring to create a project involving visual arts students, he wasn’t sure it would work. “It’s not like we said ‘Prince’ and stars popped up in the students’ eyes,” he said.
But the students mainly came by. Accounts of the artist’s influence and legacy have helped. Prince, who died in 2016, is one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He wrote hundreds of songs—including “Little Red Corvette,” one of the first videos by black artists to receive heavy play on MTV—and for a while changed his stage name to an unpronounceable symbol, becoming known as “The Artist Formerly Known.” as a Prince.”
Yet the enthusiasm for Prince among the student curators has its limits. “People ask us, ‘Why Prince?’” said Princess Clarke, 16, a junior at Bard High School Early College Newark. “Those are just the cards we’ve been dealt.”
But in conversations with visitors, Ms. Clarke does not always reveal her ambivalence. “I try to soften it up for them,” she said. “When they ask me about my favorite Prince song, I say ‘Kiss’ is a song I enjoyed.”
Mr. Owens and Mr. Byer-Tyre encourage teachers to speak out. “They have taken responsibility for what they did,” Mr. Owens said, “and it shows in the interaction with the public.”
Occasionally, the students are able to identify with the breathless, Prince-obsessed strangers they encounter. Ms. Prado, for example, has developed an appreciation she never saw coming. “As I hear his music all the time, I find myself slowly becoming a fan,” she said. “I love how different it is, how striking and bold. Sometimes he gives me chills. We may never have another prince in our lifetime.”
“Remembering the Purple One: A Tribute to Prince Rogers Nelson” runs through December 31 on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM at the Hahne & Co. Building, 50 Halsey St., Newark. Entrance is free.