African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County (AACHM) at 1528 Pontiac Trail in Ann Arbor has just opened doors to a new exhibition on January 30, Sankofa: The Art & Legacy of Jon Onye Lockard — featuring works that might interest UMMA visitors.
 
The exhibition showcases a wide collection from decades of Lockard’s artistic career — ranging from murals, paintings, and stories. The exhibition celebrates the life and legacy of a man whose connection to the African Diaspora exemplifies the principle of the African proverb Sankofa: “It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten.”
 
Detroit native Jon Onye Lockard has a long history of influence on the University of Michigan campus. Not only is he an awe-inspiring artist, but he founded the Department of African American & African Studies in 1970, where he also served as a lecturer. Recognized as an outstanding community leader all throughout southeast Michigan, the Jon Onye Lockard Foundation was established in his honor, to support “African American culture through the visual arts and an intergenerational exchange of ideas.” 
 
Two works by Lockard have history at UMMA, Detroit/Soweto Pieta (currently displayed in the Alfred A Taubman Gallery II on loan from the Jon Onye Lockard Foundation) and Jack of Spades (previously displayed in Alfred A Taubman Gallery I as part of Curriculum/Collection.) The former piece is connected to the exhibition We Write to You About Africa, which addresses the Global North’s entanglements with colonization and efforts to repatriate African artworks. 
 
Sankofa: The Art & Legacy of Jon Onye Lockard is open now through May 1, 2022 at the African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County. AACHM hours are Saturdays and Sundays, 12 noon to 4pm. Group or weekday visits may be scheduled by appointment. Masks will be required for entry and all protocols for the safety and health of their visitors will be followed.