The trio of women creating public art that pays homage to Philadelphia’s historic 7th Ward discovered new connections and personal meaning as they worked on the tribute, they shared at the first “Legacy Reclaimed” salon.
During a night filled with laughter, food, and connection, the panel discussion featured Amelia Carter, Beth Naomi Lewis, and Li Sumpter.
Moderated by Vashti DuBois and hosted at Mother Bethel A.M.E., the conversation focused on Black futures and how art, design, and creative expression can serve as powerful tools for reconnecting with cultural heritage and identity.
Lewis, an art historian and studio artist, was very active within the 7th Ward boundaries throughout her life, but never really had the chance to explore its rich history before this project, she said. She went to school at 25th and Lombard, gave birth at the Pennsylvania Hospital, and has friends and family at various locations in the area.
“This project was a learning experience for me,” Lewis said, “and gave me more Philly pride than I had before.”
Once she and Carter started putting up their lifesize archival candid photographs of Black for their installation “Reflecting Revenants,” Lewis said, she felt an urge to delve deeper and share more of the untold stories. At one point home to the largest African American population of any northern city, much about the 7th Ward has been lost over the years.
“Once I learned about the history of the ward, there was a thirst to really inform people about it,” Lewis said.
Turns out her and Carter’s paths had crossed several times before — they just never knew it. “In this project we realized how much overlap we have,” Lewis said. “I literally think me and this woman were passing each other on the street for years.”
One of their favorite stories to tell is that Lewis’s mother took vocal lessons from Carter’s great uncle. Lewis would often join her mom at the vocal lessons which took place at Carter’s great uncle’s house that Carter lived in at the time.
Carter has done work on numerous art forms but has never been formally trained.
“Everything I learned has been through exploration,” Carter said. She has a history in working in the film scene in producing, directing, project management, and large-scale event planning. The style of “Reflecting Revenants” — with large format decals and print installed in public areas — was new to her, but she found a new passion for it, thanks to Lewis.
“We wanted to tell the same stories,” Carter said. “This partnership really felt like it was meant to be.”
Sumpter, whose art installation titled “Time Bandit of the 7th Ward” is a gaming installation inspired by the history of the 7th Ward merged with new myths, shouted out the duo’s newly discovered connection as proof that “Legacy Reclaimed” has already been meaningful.
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“Along the way there have been connections,” Sumpter said at the salon. “Even throughout the struggles, the connections are the affirmations that you are on the right track and that this project is for you.”
Sumpter holds a master’s in art and humanities education from New York University and a Ph.D. in mythological studies and depth psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute.
She has made an impact as an educator at Moore College of Art and Design in both undergraduate and graduate programs and helped with adult courses in Afrofuturism, myth and cinema and other special topics at Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the Barnes Foundation.
“Being an art educator this project was a great intersection for my practice to really kind of explode in a good way,” Sumpter said.
She’s not the only one in her family who has a background as an educator — her parents were too, and they lived in the 7th Ward.
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When Sumpter was 11 years old her father moved to 15th and Bainbridge. She grew up watching her brother and father move within the ward, and would see how they interact with the space and people.
Sumpter’s father is an artist which inspired her in many ways. “His practice is always about lost legends and reclaiming history through the arts and telling stories for the arts.” Her father focused on more than just Philadelphia, he looked at subject matters with the Negro Baseball Leauge, Paul Robenson, Roberto Clemente and the Valley Forge monuments for patrons of African descent.
“I really feel like this project is a big part of my family legacy and how I want to honor my dad, and everything he has taught me.”
The next panel discussion is scheduled for 6 p.m. Jan. 17 at the Mother Bethel Church on 6th and Lombard. Panelists will relate historical happenings to present-day social economic conditions and also address the importance of preserving cultural heritage.
