{"id":344724,"date":"2026-07-18T20:23:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T20:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/344724\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T20:23:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T20:23:10","slug":"la-vaughn-belles-homage-to-houses-built-by-formerly-enslaved-in-orlando","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/344724\/","title":{"rendered":"La Vaughn Belle’s homage to houses built by formerly enslaved in Orlando"},"content":{"rendered":"

This July, the\u00a0Rollins Museum of Art<\/a>\u00a0(RMA) welcomes\u00a0The\u00a0House that Freedoms Built, a monumental outdoor installation by internationally acclaimed artist La Vaughn Belle. On view on the Rollins College campus from July 24, 2026, through January 3, 2027, the work launches a new series of artist installations and interventions exploring architecture and the built environment while inviting audiences to reflect on how spaces shape identity, memory, and community.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Commissioned by Powerhouse Arts and first presented at the 2024 Smithsonian Design Triennial at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York,\u00a0The House that Freedoms Built\u00a0is being\u00a0exhibited\u00a0for only the second time. Inspired by 18th-century houses built by formerly enslaved people on the island of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, the installation consists of three white structures adorned with intricate fretwork patterns rooted in Caribbean architectural traditions. Through these forms, Belle explores the enduring legacy of colonialism<\/a> while honoring stories of resilience, creativity, and self-determination.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe House That\u00a0Freedoms\u00a0Built asks what it means to inhabit freedom, not as an abstract idea, but as something we negotiate every day through space, through our bodies, and through community,\u201d said Belle. \u201cLike the sculptures themselves, freedom is not solitary. It is something we build in relation to one another. At Rollins, where the museum sits within a living campus, I hope the work sparks questions about how we construct a sense of home and how we come to belong to the places and histories that shape us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

For the entryway to the\u00a0Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, Belle designed three structures inspired by the shapes of 18th-century houses built by formerly enslaved people who negotiated their freedom and were allowed to settle in Christiansted, Saint Croix. The architectural embellishment known as fretwork adorning each structure is a nod to homes in the town of Frederiksted. The community was the site of the 1878\u00a0Fireburn\u00a0rebellion, an important labor revolt that resulted in much of the town being destroyed. Residents added these fretwork designs to their houses during Frederiksted\u2019s reconstruction.<\/p>\n

Beginning September 11, 2026, the installation will be presented in conversation with\u00a0To Imagine a Home, a collection-based exhibition curated by RMA\u00a0Senior\u00a0Curator\u00a0Gisela Carbonell. Featuring works by Allen Fireall, Emilio S\u00e1nchez, Pep\u00f3n Osorio, Yinka Shonibare,\u00a0Becky\u00a0Suss, and others, the exhibition examines the many ways we define and experience home. It will also include two newly\u00a0acquired\u00a0photographs from Belle\u2019s\u00a0SWARM\u00a0series, creating a dialogue between the artist\u2019s sculptural and photographic practices.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLa Vaughn Belle\u2019s work surfaces overlooked narratives and expands our understanding of history while raising important questions about our relationship to objects, places, and the past,\u201d said\u00a0Leslie\u00a0Anne\u00a0Anderson, Bruce A. Beal Executive Director of the Rollins Museum of Art. \u201cThe House that Freedoms Built\u00a0invites our community to pause and reflect on freedom in its many forms\u2014how it is imagined, constructed, and experienced across time and place.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Together, the installation and exhibition arrive at a meaningful moment for the museum as it prepares for its move to a new facility in 2028. As one of the final major presentations in its current home, the project invites visitors to consider the spaces we inhabit and the stories they hold.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The museum will celebrate the opening of\u00a0The House that Freedoms Built\u00a0with a series of public programs. In\u00a0October, Belle will visit Rollins College for an artist\u00a0talk\u00a0to\u00a0explore\u00a0themes of architecture, freedom, colonial history, and belonging.\u00a0Additional\u00a0gallery talks and public programs connected to\u00a0To\u00a0Imagine a Home\u00a0will provide opportunities for visitors to engage more deeply with the ideas at the heart of the project.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Exhibition Information\u00a0<\/p>\n

La Vaughn\u00a0Belle: The House that Freedoms Built\u00a0
July 24, 2026 \u2013 January 3, 2027\u00a0
Outdoor installation, Rollins College campus\u00a0<\/p>\n

To Imagine a\u00a0Home\u00a0
September 12, 2026 \u2013 January 3, 2027\u00a0
Rollins Museum of Art\u00a0<\/p>\n

Admission is always free\u00a0at The Rollins Museum of Art\u00a0<\/p>\n

About the Artist\u00a0<\/p>\n

La Vaughn Belle (b. 1974, Tobago) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Saint Croix,\u00a0U.S.\u00a0Virgin Islands whose work focuses on the often-forgotten colonial narratives embedded in the architecture and material culture of contemporary society. Her practice\u00a0frequently\u00a0centers on the Caribbean island of Saint Croix\u2014long claimed as a territory by various European nations, including\u00a0nearly 200\u00a0years as a colony of Denmark, before being sold to the US in\u00a01916\u00a0and transferred in 1917.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This July, the\u00a0Rollins Museum of Art\u00a0(RMA) welcomes\u00a0The\u00a0House that Freedoms Built, a monumental outdoor installation by internationally acclaimed artist…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344725,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[141304,141305,139,141,140,13360,141306],"class_list":["post-344724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-black-artist","tag-latinx-artist","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-public-art","tag-social-justice-art"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}