Theresa Gloster is a selftaught
memory artist whose
paintings chronicle her
childhood years in the small
African American community
of Bushtown, NC. Born in
a WV mining camp, Ms.
Gloster grew up in the high
foothills of NC, where she
lived with her grandparents
in a household that included
12 kids. She says everything is
subject to be painted. “Wood,
clothes, furniture, dishes,
anything that is old, I use
to paint on.” The paintings
gathered here chronicle a
time of lived community, a
time when families worked
together to overcome the
hardships of segregation &
marginalization, a time that
Ms. Gloster described as one
of collective transcending.
The images are neither overly
romantic nor overtly critical;
instead they’re simply – in
Ms. Gloster’s words – “true.”