Educator, Sarah Dinkelacker: We are going to start off by moving around this work of art and observing it from all the sides. What do you notice?
John Outterbridge made this artwork from items he found around his home and his neighborhood. Are there any objects that you recognize? I notice some scraps of cloth, a metal box. I notice a long, pointy thing sticking up. It's a radio antenna.
Here's the artist speaking about his work.
Artist, John Outterbridge: The doll series is a direct result of my daughter's excitement about dolls as a little girl and my interest in that excitement.
Sarah Dinkelacker: What do you notice about the position of this doll's legs?
I notice one leg is pointed towards the ground, and one leg is pointed out towards the side. The artist called this work Broken Dance.
John Outterbridge: Because Broken Dance is a ballerina with one leg missing. But with the strength, the posture, seemingly, the dance would continue.
Sarah Dinkelacker: John Outterbridge was thinking about his Black community in North Carolina. He wanted to teach his daughter about the strength we have as people to move past difficult things and to be proud of where she comes from.