April Book + Film Club: Alabama Artist Bill Traylor

Name: April Book + Film Club: Alabama Artist Bill Traylor
Start: 2025-04-30T19:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-04-30T21:00:00-05:00
Location: 1821 2nd Ave. N. , Birmingham, AL, United States, Alabama 35203

Schedule

Wed Apr 30 2025 at 07:00 pm to 09:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

1821 2nd Ave. N. , Birmingham, AL, United States, Alabama 35203 | Birmingham, AL

Sidewalk’s Book + Film Club unites movie and book lovers for a monthly film screening and discussion about famous films and the people who make them. At the end of the month, we host a screening of a film related to the book and host a round-table discussion. Each session is $35 and the includes book, film screening, and discussion. Buy 3 or more months at once with the book included and get 10% off your registration by using code ‘3ormore' at checkout! Already have the book? Select the $15 option for access to the film screening and post film discussion.
Registration Deadline to have books mailed: Friday, April 4th. Books will be mailed within 72 hours of this date.
Registration Deadline to have books picked up: Monday, April 21st. Books can be picked up from our Box Office during our regular operating hours Thursday & Friday from 2pm til Close and on Saturday & Sunday from 10:30am until close. You will receive an email when your book is ready to be picked up.
Book: Bill Traylor by Valérie Rousseau, Debra Purden
Born into slavery around 1853-4 on a cotton plantation in Benton, Alabama, Traylor has become one of the most important self-taught artists of the twentieth century, and certainly one of the most celebrated African-American artists. The story of Bill Traylor’s life and work is a remarkable one and is a story that deserves attention both nationally and internationally. This publication, generously illustrated with full-page high-quality reproductions, provides a close examination of Traylor’s recurrent themes, composition schemes, favored iconography, and contextual information related to the artist’s biography, creative process and tools, visual environment, and artistic mindset.
Film: Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts (2019) dir Jeffery Wolf
An inventive feature documentary capturing the vivid life of Bill Traylor, who in his late 80s, living homeless on the street in the thriving segregated black neighborhood of Montgomery, produced a body of extraordinary art. Born into slavery in 1853 on a cotton plantation in rural Alabama, Traylor witnessed profound social and political change during his life spanning slavery, Reconstruction, Jim Crow segregation, and the Great Migration. In his later years, Traylor poured out those memories from within, drawing and painting over 1,000 pieces of art from 1939-42. Using historic and cultural context, the film is designed to bring the spirit and mystery of Traylor’s incomparable art to life. Tap dance, evocative period and original music, and dramatic readings are used in surprising ways in the film, balanced with insightful perspectives from Traylor family members and expert interviews. Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts explores the life of a unique American artist, a man with a remarkable and unlikely biography. The film is a compelling human narrative that gives voice to a man who endures a long life of extreme hardships during an era of legalized racial indignities, to become one of America’s most prominent artists, exhibited in museums and collections worldwide.
Private screening and discussion will take place at Sidewalk Cinema April 30th at 7:00pm.