Back in February 2004, I organized the first large-scale viewing of Eugene B. Redmond’s photographs of Black writers in an exhibit space on campus. Dozens of people, many of whom would not have normally attended an event at SIUE, showed up. That experience led me to think more seriously about developing culturally distinct projects that could, among other things, bring new people into campus spaces where they were typically absent or unlikely to visit.
Later, beginning in the summer of 2010, the university gave me access to a small room on the third floor of the library, where I created the Redmond Reading Room to store and showcase posters from the various exhibits I had organized. That reading room ultimately served as a blueprint for the larger space the university later created: the Eugene B. Redmond (EBR) Learning Center.
Since the EBR Center opened on October 19, 2015, we have hosted well over 200 events, including poetry readings, book-browsing sessions, presentations, a fashion show, mini-conferences, discussion groups, and multiple kinds of exhibits.
Theorizing cultural spaces helps us better understand how intentionally designed environments on campuses can support community formation, nurture intellectual exploration and development, expand participation in the humanities, and create enduring structures for artistic engagement.
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