Black Lives Matter Seacoast, Najee Visuals, Seacoast African American Cultural Center, Theater For the People, and 3S Artspace present:
Crown: The Hair Show
Friday, July 25
Doors 6:30pm / Event 7pm
$25 General admission
Presented by Black Lives Matter Seacoast, Najee Visuals, Seacoast African American Cultural Center, Theater For the People, and 3S Artspace:
Join us at 3S Artspace for a live runway hair showcase honoring artistry and the cultural legacy of Black hair, beauty, identity, and community.
The immersive evening produced by Najee Brown features acclaimed stylist Mannette Dione, demonstrating both creativity and versatility on the runway. Mannette is a licensed freelance cosmetologist specializing in textured hair and natural hair care. She has been involved in New York Fashion Week and the Boston creative scene throughout her career, and her mission is to empower clients through beauty, leaving them feeling like the best version of themselves - inside and out.
The Hair Show also includes music spun by DJ Chris Roxx (Boston), and a pop-up community marketplace with local vendors in a vibrant night of art, beauty, and dancing!
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Go deeper:
This event complements the photography exhibit Crown: A Celebration of Black Hair, featuring works by Jordan Allen, Robert Bellinger, and Najee Brown currently on view at SAACC, 3S Artspace, and Strawbery Banke Museum. The exhibit honors SAACC's 25th anniversary of sharing the Black experience with the Seacoast community.
"Black hair tells a story - of resilience, of beauty, of joy, and of legacy. It carries generations of creativity, care, and culture. Too often the narratives surrounding Black hair have been about restriction or judgment - with CROWN, I wanted to create something that honors Black hair in all its forms. The exhibit and The Hair Show are about reclaiming that narrative - it's about everyday people, the barbers and stylists, the aunties and elders, the kids in the chair, the artists and the culture-bearers. It's about celebrating the artistry of Black hair as an evolving, living expression of who we are. And doing this in partnership with 3S Artspace and Seacoast African American Cultural Center, with community at the center - that's what makes it beautiful. We're here to uplift that beauty, that joy, that power."
- Najee Brown, Artistic Director
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3S Artspace is supported in part by grants from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts; the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and NHCF's Geoffrey E. Clark and Martha Fuller Clark Fund; and Little Bay Fund.
Thank you to our lead sponsors: AC Hotel Portsmouth, The Brook, The Kane Company/Tidemark, Katzman Contemporary Projects, MacEdge, Raka, Sheraton Portsmouth Harborside Hotel.
