Wednesday, May 57:00 – 8:30 PMJoin Dr. Elizabeth Shannon for a curator tour of the exhibition Collection Focus: Our Beginnings Never Know our Ends. The second in a series of new explorations of MOCA North Miami's permanent collection, Our Beginnings Never Know Our Ends, features artworks that explore ideas of self-hood and the negotiation of relationships. How can we form and maintain a stable sense of self against the background of personal, familial, and social expectations and pressures?This exhibition was in its final planning stages when the COVID-19 pandemic reached the United States. As everything drastically changed, some of the pieces in this exhibition gained new relevance. Some meanings continue to shift. Many works, particularly those created by women and LGBTQA+ artists, challenge and subvert existing hierarchies. Others encourage us to think carefully about our identities and the ways that they are expressed in the world. Many works highlight the conflicting influences, histories, and narratives that contribute to our sense of self. They acknowledge the difficulty of coming to know yourself, let alone comprehending anyone else. Despite these challenges, we are required to fulfill particular roles in our families, friendship groups, and workplaces, now more than ever. Thankfully, some of the artists suggest approaches as to how we might exist in the world and even occasionally fulfill others' expectations while maintaining our optimism, kindness, resilience, and good humor.REGISTER HERE