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Oh shelia! Photographic works remembering shelia Turner, by members of Sistagraphy | On View - July 21, 2025 to Sept 5, 2025 - Community Gallery @ ArtsXchange
- ArtsXchange
- Jul 23
- 2 min read
Updated: Sep 9
Oh sheila!
Photographic works remembering shelia Turner, by members of Sistagraphy
On view - July 21 to September 5, 2025
ArtsXchange Community Gallery
A women with passion, creativity and vision, shelia turner believed that African American women were just as talented as men in the realm of photography. shelia acted upon her passion and invited women with the same ideals and held an exhibition of only African American women.
From that exhibition, she created a space for women to be creative in the photographic medium. Thus, shelia founded Sistagraphy (named by Susan “Sue” Ross) which has been active for over 30 years. shelia encouraged Sistagraphy members to use their cameras, mixed media art and the like to be artists, storytellers, and activists to tell the stories of the communities, cities, states and countries.
This exhibition is a celebration of our founder shelia turner--her work, her creativity, her activism, her passion and her vision that led her to create Sistagraphy. The members of Sistagraphy are presenting works by shelia, inspired by shelia and of shelia.
About Shelia Turner
1961 - 2018
In 1993, Shelia Turner, an Atlanta-based documentary photographer, wanted to create a vehicle for Black women photographers to exhibit their work. At the time, the world of photography was dominated by white males. There was no collective of Black women photographers documenting the stories of Black women. Shelia contacted nine photographers that she knew personally, and they all accepted her invitation. The inaugural exhibition garnered critical acclaim. The collective’s next exhibition was held in 1994 under its new name, Sistagraphy.
Shelia passed away in 2018, but her commitment to the relevance and importance of photographic art created by African American women lives on. Sistagraphy encourages lifelong learning and promotes the art of photography through interpretive theme-based exhibitions, educational programs, and community outreach. Shelia Turner was posthumously awarded the Ebon Dooley Change Maker Award in 2018.
