The Winston Tabb Special Collections Research Center presents Be(longing): Unveiling the Imprint of Black Women Hidden in Plain Sight, an installation by Baltimore-based artist and Public Humanities Fellow Nicoletta Daríta de la Brown inspired by her explorations with archival materials related to Ethel Ennis, Billie Holiday, African American real photo postcards, and other special collections at the Johns Hopkins Sheridan Libraries. Through video, photographic self-portraits, and site-specific performance, de la Brown addresses culturally significant and deeply introspective questions: How many Black women are living in archives? What happens to us when we are invisible? How can I feel seen, and safe, as a Black woman?

About the Tabb Center Public Humanities Fellowships : The Winston Tabb Special Collections Research Center Public Humanities Fellows are non-institutionally affiliated organizers, artists, cultural workers, public historians, and knowledge-creators who mobilize materials from the Sheridan Libraries’ rare book, manuscript, and archival collections to strengthen and support their existing community-based work.

November 14 – December 1 2023,  Johns Hopkins University The George Peabody Library. The artist activated the public art installation through over fifteen performance hours on the following dates:  

Tues Nov 14 - Fri Nov 17
Mon Nov 20 - Wed Nov 22
Sun Nov 26 - Friday Dec 1

Installation Viewing Hours: 10AM–5PM
Performance Hours: 2PM-3PM

National Aquarium Artist-in-Residence Nicoletta Darita de la Brown, created multiple experimental videos that portray water as a modality of healing and how it feels to be submerged. These films were projected throughout the Aquarium and layered with sound components for a multi-sensory experience.

In addition to her video artworks, Nicoletta performed for over 650 guests from the crest of Blacktip Reef and throughout the National Aquarium, Baltimore MD.

Her performance art is described as ritual and as a dance-like-ceremony. For this aspect of her practice, the artist is also the art.

"I sculpt space with my body as I activate my environment as moving, living, breathing art." - Nicoletta

Black Women Hours, Off Duty (Bodega Body Series), 2023

MATERIALS: Giclée Print

DIMENSIONS: 30 in x 40 in

Abuelitas Kitchen (Bodega Body Series), 2023

MATERIALS: Giclée Print

DIMENSIONS: 30 in x 40 in

Black Women Off Duty, Save Yourself (Bodega Body Series), 2023 MATERIALS: Giclée Print

DIMENSIONS: 30 in x 40 in

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Artworks on exhibition in "Connected Diaspora: Central American Visuality in the Age of Social Media" at Bennington College @atbennington Usdan Gallery. In collaboration with exhibition curator and artist @veromelen Veronica Melendez, the exhibition casts light on a new generation of artists who visually reflect on U.S. Central American lives and experiences in the era of social media.

REVELARTE: “to reveal something hidden within yourself.” Uncovering identity is an ongoing process. People and places in our lives – where we come from, the community we live in, and the places in between – form a complex web of identity and belonging.

The Hirshhorn partnered with three artists ( Nicoletta Darita de la Brown, Veronica Melendez, Carlos Carmonamedina ) to explore places that are important to us. Two hour durational performance featuring Nicoletta de la Brown at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum, Washington DC.

A celebration of healing and rebirth activated by cleansing. A releasing of past trauma, sorrow, and injury in a sacred space. A ceremony created to elicit cessation, processing, breathing, and mindfulness. A performative act of vulnerability. An immersive celebration. An ancient feminine practice of ritual bathing. An initiation that evokes purifying the vessel, calming the mind, opening the spirit, and transmuting that which no longer serves. A restorative process. A moment of self fortification. A place for gentle healing.

2020-21 Mickalene Thomas: A Moment's Pleasure at The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore MD; 2019 IA&A at Hillyer Gallery, Washington DC  

As a Black woman, my body became a container for trauma. I am often asked to hold space — both for my own agonies and those experienced by people in my community. Each time I care for my children, my friends, my students, my neighbors their wounds stick to me. It becomes … a lot to deal with. I feel so tired. I want to heal. Need it. I heal traumas housed in my body through water-based rituals in nature, public space, and in-studio. 

It all began with embroidered bodega (corner-store grocery) bags. Found blowing down the street like city tumbleweed. Rescued from the gutter. Reclaimed. What once was discarded elevated to embellished art object. While growing up in Brooklyn and Harlem I would visit my block's bodega daily. Enter with handful of loose change. Leave with what felt like priceless treasure. More than just small black bags; they reflect a sense of pride for my neighborhood, are a symbol of my culture, and my identity.

My body is my first home. My body is an altar. This project aims to combine traditional western medicine with alternative modes of healing. The practices that have been passed down to me are rich in culture, keep me connected to my ancestors, and boost all aspects of my overall well being -- spiritual, emotional/mental, and physical wellness.