A Black Prayer

Grounded in preserving and caring for histories of Black people, SPACES Artist-in-Residence Yelaine Rodriguez premieres A Black Prayer, a new exhibition that recontextualizes a pre-existing work alongside new work made specifically during her residency in Cleveland. Yelaine Rodriguez (b. 1990) is an Afro-DominicanYork interdisciplinary artist and scholar focused on sculpture, photography, film, and performance. Her work explores Afro-syncretism, architectural and ancestral memory, connecting the Caribbean and the U.S.

For her exhibition at SPACES, Rodriguez presents a re-imagining of her pre-existing work, Miss Doc, a video performance art piece that delves into migration patterns, race relations, and women's rights during the Reconstruction Era. It tells the story of Dr. Sarah Loguen Fraser, born in 1850, who was the fourth Black woman to become a licensed physician in the United States and the first woman doctor and pediatric specialist in the Dominican Republic. Exhibited in The Oracle Gallery, this iteration of Miss Doc features a multi-channel video, photographic works, and a sculptural installation incorporating archival materials. The presentation of Miss Doc at SPACES serves as an homage to Sarah’s grandmother, Cherry, who was born free in Ohio before being kidnapped into slavery at the age of seven. Subsequently, Cherry played a pivotal role in assisting her son (Sarah’s father), the noted abolitionist and bishop Jermain Wesley Loguen, to escape slavery by crossing the Ohio River.

In The George Gund Gallery, Rodriguez premieres a short film exploring Northeast Ohio’s role in the Underground Railroad, with a particular focus on Harriet Tubman’s various journeys north, portrayed by Cleveland dancer Eboni Darkenwald. Throughout the gallery, Rodriguez arranges ceramic-made lanterns alongside bricks and found objects in this site-responsive exhibition that extends Rodriguez’s dynamic, research-based practice through new making techniques and regional collaborations. The ceramic lanterns serve as signifiers of the Underground Railroad, recalling their historical deployment as covert signals for freedom seekers. By foregrounding these connections, the installation is situated within an expanded discourse on resistance, coded communication, interracial allyship, and collective liberation.

Community partners for A Black Prayer include Valerie Grossman from BRICK Ceramics + Design Studio, Orlando Caraballo from Cleveland Print Room, Jon Skrtic from Cleveland Public Library, Jessica Davis from Rebuilder’s Exchange, Sonia Bingham from Native Roots, Inc., Ann Sindelar from Western Reserve Historical Society, and Kent State University Library - Special Collections. Additional support comes from Danté Rodriguez, and Eboni Darkenwald.