Hickman Gallery to feature Singletary exhibition, ‘The Stories We Carry’
Posted Tuesday, July 28, 2026
Adrian College’s Hickman Gallery will feature “The Stories We Carry,” a solo exhibition by artist Brenda Singletary, from Aug. 17 through Sept. 22. A public reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28, where guests will have the opportunity to meet the artist. The event is free and open to the pubic.
Travis Erxleben, chair of Adrian College’s Department of Art and Design, said the exhibition invites visitors to explore how memory, identity and shared human experience shape the stories we carry throughout our lives.
“The Stories We Carry reminds us that every person has a history worth honoring,” Erxleben said. “Brenda’s work invites us to slow down, reflect and recognize the powerful connections between our own experiences and those of others. We are honored to welcome her work to Hickman Gallery.”
Singletary said the exhibition reflects her evolving studio practice, moving between abstraction and representation. She said the exhibition examines the intersections of personal memory, family history and collective experience through painting, mixed media and richly layered surfaces. Vintage photographs, expressive mark-making, texture and found materials become visual touchstones that encourage viewers to reflect on both the stories depicted in the artwork and the stories they bring with them.
Singletary’s work is recognized for its exploration of African American history, memory and resilience through painting, mixed media and sculptural forms.
“For me, painting is an act of discovery,” Singletary said. “It allows memory and imagination to coexist, revealing connections between the visible and the unseen, the remembered and the forgotten.”
Her artwork has been exhibited nationally, including a solo exhibition at the Toledo Museum of Art, “Reflections of Spirit,” and exhibitions at the University of Michigan’s Institute for the Humanities. She has served as a panel judge for the President’s Commission on White House Fellows in Washington. Most recently, she received an Individual Artist Grant Award from the Toledo Arts Commission. Singletary also serves as an instructor at the Toledo Museum of Art while maintaining her downtown Toledo studio.
Born in Detroit, Singletary has built an artistic career spanning more than four decades. She studied at Morris Brown College in Atlanta before continuing graduate studies at Goddard College in Vermont. After spending years living and working in Atlanta, she returned to Detroit before eventually settling in Toledo, Ohio, where she continues her studio practice.
Singletary also shares a connection to the Adrian community. She and her husband, Michael, lived in Adrian for five years, and she maintained a studio at the Adrian Center for the Arts for two years. She later opened her own gallery and studio in Adrian, where she continued her artistic practice until the pandemic. Singletary said the exhibition marks a welcome return to a community that played an important role in her artistic journey.
The Hickman Gallery is open to the public Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or by appointment. Admission is free.
For more information about the exhibition, contact Erxleben at 265.5161 ext. 4374 or terxleben@adrian.edu. For more information about Adrian College, visit adrian.edu.
