‘True Colors: The Spark We Celebrate’ exhibition on in October

'Warm hug' of confetti looks to incite joy, smiles

“I have been cast aside, but I sparkle in the darkness.

I have been slain but live on in the rivers of history.

I seek no conquest, no wealth, no power, no revenge;

I seek only discovery

Of the illimitable heights and depths of my own being.”

-Pauli Murray, “Prophecy,” 1969

Back for its ninth year, the True Colors photography exhibition is on display now at the East Carolina University Main Campus Student Center, and visitors can view the expressions of the theme “The Spark We Celebrate” through the month of October.

A total of 25 portraits hang in the Dasha Efird Little ECU Student Art Gallery, across from the second-floor ballrooms. The 23 portrait participants are featured against black backgrounds, surrounded by vibrantly colored confetti and streamers. Beneath each portrait is that person’s response to a prompt about how they maintain their sparkle and where they find joy in their lives today.

This year’s exhibition kicked off with an introduction and reception Oct. 6 at the Dr. Jesse R. Peel LGBTQ Center, just down the corridor from the exhibition. After the exhibition ends, Joyner Library will include the pieces in its digital archive, keeping record of the project over the years and preserving a piece of ECU history. The exhibition honors the “brilliance, authenticity, and vibrance” of people in the ECU community, and the photographs “radiate the courage and joy that come from living as one’s true self.”

School of Art and Design photography professor Angela Wells helped start True Colors in 2016 and creates the photographs, but doesn’t place her name on the exhibition.

“It’s not mine,” she said. “This is ours. If I can use (my) skills to make photographs of my community, and those photographs create conversation, and if those photographs remind our community how beautiful and wonderful you are, it’s worth it.”

Wells’ research explores the way photographs express and connect with community, something she has worked on since her undergraduate years. She said that, outside of art school, anyone can create photographs marking their day-to-day life, travel, and expression of what’s happening around them. And photos also serve as memory makers.

“When you have your own space, your home, you put up pictures of your people,” Wells said. “It’s how we mark our space: (These are) our people, our home. For me, that’s what True Colors does. It’s my way of being able to use my skills as a photo maker to tell the stories of our people.”

Students, staff and faculty from the ECU community spent time in the Jenkins Fine Arts Center lighting studio to help create Wells’ photos this year, and she also thanked her “magic” volunteers who helped with equipment and throwing the confetti. Many portrait participants attended the reception, and three briefly shared their stories and encouraged everyone to enjoy the photos.

“The fact that I was just able to be myself with all the confetti — and the confetti was everywhere — I think this is an amazing project, and I’m very thankful that I was able to be a part of it,” said B.J. Miles, a communication graduate student whose mom arrived just in time to hear him speak.

Briana Toplin, a counselor preparation and research doctoral candidate, appears in two portraits, on either end of the Student Art Gallery. She called it an honor and privilege to participate. She said True Colors is made for a person like her, “an intersectional human being.”

“This is why I do counseling; this is why I teach,” Toplin said. “People deserve to be seen. People deserve to be heard.”

In her portrait, applied sociology student Emily Wetzel is covered in streamers and holds a paper fan printed in a rainbow. She said participating in True Colors was important, and agreed with Miles’ characterization that the project is “amazing.”

“It was so fun,” she said. “I hope you guys like it.”

Wells said she hopes people smile when they see the portraits, and take a moment to realize the ECU community is in this life experience together. She said she has “never, ever” had so much fun and laughed so much in the studio.

“I hope that people who participated feel proud, feel beautiful and celebrated,” she said. “Most humans don’t get a moment to feel celebrated for just being themselves.”

Briana Toplin

Emily Wetzel

BJ Miles