There All Along: The Hidden Black Lives Inside the Whitehouse of the Confederacy
“Young ladies, and gentlemen turn your attention to the education and adornment of your minds rather than your person, which are to be the great lever of our elevation as people.”
Installation at The White House of the Confederacy, Richmond, VA
Vision of Mary Jane Richards
"This work highlights the history of free and enslaved Black workers inside the executive mansion, many of whom seized their own freedom and campaigned for abolitionism and civil rights during and after the American Civil War."
- Reclaiming the Monument
"Vision of Mary Jane Richards" is a part of the Recontextualizing Richmond series by Reclaiming The Monument, in collaboration with The Valentine, The American Civil War Museum, and the Mellon Foundation. The work premiered during an enlightening evening of panel discussions by historians from the ACWM at the Valentine and a performance by Untold RVA honoring ancestors.
Mary Jane Richards (who went by many names) was a spy who infiltrated the White House of the Confederacy. Her story, along with many other enslaved and freed Black workers in the White House of the Confederacy, has been tragically underrepresented. This project pushes back against the censorship of voices of color and seeks to restore these individuals to their rightful place in our nation’s history.
Reclaiming the Monument
Richmond, VA
Miguel Carter-Fisher’s painting My Cousin Chloe was selected by artists Dustin Klein and Alex Criqui to be projected on the Robert E. Lee monument as a part of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in Richmond, VA, summer 2020.
Marcus-David Peters Circle
Collaboration with Dustin Klein, Alex Criqui, and Josh Zarambo
InLight, 1708 Gallery, Richmond, VA
Photo by Enza Marcy, Commonwealth Times
Marcus-David Peters Circle is an animated artwork inspired by artists Dustin Klein and Alex Criqui’s experiences as part of the Black Lives Matter movement in Richmond, Virginia, where their nightly projections on the Robert E. Lee Monument have gained international attention. The duo have partnered with visual artists Miguel Carter-Fisher and Josh Zarambo, as well as photographer Zach Fichter, to create an innovative depiction of the transformation that has taken place in the city of Richmond in the year 2020. This piece utilizes projection mapping, oil painting, digital painting, photography, and digital collage to create a moving portrait of Marcus-David Peters through a surrealist lens.
For more information visit Reclaiming the Monument.
Serenity Prayer
Caritas RVA
Photo by Alexa Welch Edlund, Richmond Times Dispatch
Miguel Carter-Fisher is one of five artists (including Matt Lively, Amy Smith, Heide Trepanier, and Shaylen Broughton) to paint a mural for the new Caritas women’s residential recovery program.
Caritas is an organization that provides effective, permanent solutions to individuals and families dealing with the crisis of homelessness and/or addiction in the Metro Richmond area.
The mural is named after a commonly used prayer in twelve step programs:
God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
The mural was designed to assist the residents of Caritas by evoking a sense peace and serenity to help them on their path to recovery.
Serenity Prayer was completed with the assistance of artist Morgan Kendrick Sawyer.
In Passage
Collaboration with Julie Elkins
Uncommon Ground: Collaboration Exhibition, Endeavor RVA at Black Iris Gallery, Richmond, VA
In Passage is a ceramic sculpture made by the painter Miguel Carter-Fisher in collaboration with the sculptor and filmmaker Julie Elkins. The two Richmond based artists met while teaching at Virginia State University. While their main bodies of work differ in tone and style, their common interests in the ephemeral nature of being unifies this dreamlike piece.