A Seat at the Table is a solo exhibition of figurative paintings on canvas and a site-specific mural by artist Julia Roland (b. 2002). A recent graduate of SCAD who grew up in Savannah, Roland’s identity as a queer Black woman from the American South informs her practice, but she sees the works speaking broadly to the human need for community. The exhibition invites painted figures and the viewer to meet in quiet dialogue, sharing a space around a table in both a physical and metaphysical sense. Through expressive hairstyles, layered color, contrasting backgrounds, and shifting poses, each unique subject’s face becomes a focal point, meeting our gaze with insistence—a site of recognition and resistance. A Seat at the Table invites all voices into the room, asking us not just to look, but to witness human connection and empathize with ongoing struggles.

About the artist:
Julia Roland is a visual artist and graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design, earning a BFA in Painting with a minor in Art History. She began making art in fifth grade and continued her development through performing arts schools in her hometown, Garrison School for the Arts and Savannah Arts Academy.

Roland’s work explores the layered complexities of African American culture and human identity. She creates portraits that reflect her lived experience and intersections of race, gender, and sexuality in shaping identity and visibility.

A Seat at the Table is part of Telfair Museums’ #art912 initiative, which is dedicated to raising the visibility and promoting the vitality of artists living and working in Savannah. This exhibition is organized by Telfair Museums and curated by Erin Dunn, curator of modern and contemporary art.

Image: Julia Roland; mural proposal for A Seat at the Table, 2025-2026; courtesy of the artist.