The California African American Museum presents 'Willie Birch: Stories to Tell,' a sweeping retrospective spanning over five decades of the artist's career, from the late 1960s to the present. The exhibition features Birch's paintings, papier-mâché sculptures, charcoal drawings, and installations, all rooted in his exploration of Black cultural memory, community life in New Orleans, and what he calls 'retentions'—fragments of African heritage persisting across generations. Organized chronologically, the show highlights Birch's evolving visual language and his commitment to storytelling as a form of social practice.
This exhibition matters because it positions Birch's six-decade career as a vital lens for understanding Black American experience and cultural resilience at a time when debates over history and belonging are highly charged. By foregrounding everyday rituals, systemic inequities, and collective memory, 'Stories to Tell' affirms the power of art to document survival and complexity, making it a timely contribution to ongoing conversations about race, heritage, and representation in the visual arts.