Center for Art and Community Partnerships
We partner with people and communities within and beyond MassArt to radically expand access to transformative creative experiences.
Learn MoreReimagining Elizabeth Freeman Through Illustration
MassArt students explored the life and legacy of Elizabeth Freeman through illustration, creating historically informed artwork in partnership with the Du Bois Freedom Center.
Abby Glover ’27 and Emma Sunnerberg ’27, along with Professor Irena Roman, President Mary K. Grant, Provost Brenda Molife, and Elena Belle White, Director, Center for Art and Community Partnerships.
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This August, community members, students, scholars, and local partners gathered in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, to unveil and dedicate a permanent interactive kiosk honoring Elizabeth Freeman, an enslaved woman whose successful 1781 court case helped establish the legal end of slavery in Massachusetts.
The kiosk, now installed at Great Barrington Town Hall at the site of the original courtroom where Freeman’s case was heard, offers a public space to learn about her life and legacy and reflect on the continuing pursuit of justice, freedom, and equity.
The project grew out of a collaboration through the Center for Art and Community Partnerships’ (CACP) Community Engaged Coursework program. Professor Irena Roman’s “Professional Illustration for the Community” course brought together MassArt students with staff and scholars from the Du Bois Freedom Center and UMass Amherst to research Freeman’s life and history, collaborate with scholars, and consider how illustration could expand the ways her story is represented. Their work moves beyond the single portrait most often associated with Freeman, offering new visual interpretations of her life, courage, and legacy.
A class field trip to the Du Bois Freedom Center in fall 2025. Photos by Elena Belle White.
Two students, Abby Glover ’27 and Emma Sunnerberg ’27, had their artwork selected for the permanent kiosk, while a companion exhibition, Elizabeth Freeman: Reimagined!, at the Du Bois Freedom Center features work by all 16 participating MassArt student illustrators, providing visitors with a broader look at the students’ interpretations of Freeman’s story.
For the MassArt students involved, the project offered an opportunity to combine research, illustration, and community engagement while contributing work to a permanent public resource in the place where Freeman’s landmark case was heard.
This project taught me that illustration can be an act of empathy, and it helped me understand the kind of artist I want to become. Someone who approaches every narrative with honesty, intention, and care. Looking ahead, I feel hopeful about the work I will create and the stories I will have the chance to honor in the future.Kobe Christie, BFA ’26 Illustration Student in “Professional Illustration for the Community” course
A permanent, interactive kiosk is now installed at Great Barrington Town Hall at the site of the original courtroom where Freeman’s case was heard.
Abby Glover and Emma Sunnerberg, at the “Elizabeth Freeman: Reimagined!” exhibition.
A companion exhibition at the Du Bois Freedom Center features work by all 16 participating MassArt student illustrators.
As the country marks its 250th anniversary, this project is a powerful reminder that democracy continues to be shaped by those who fight to ensure that its promises of liberty, justice, and equality apply to all.
Visit Elizabeth Freeman: Reimagined!, on view through October 30, 2026.
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