Flowers, a Bronx-based artist and transportation infrastructure executive with more than two decades of corporate experience, opened an art exhibition on July 27 built around a single argument: the employees who keep organizations running deserve recognition that companies typically reserve for leadership, according to the Bronx Times.
The show, titled V.O.I.C.E., featured seven original installations created or curated almost entirely by Flowers herself. One, “On the Record,” let attendees flip through archival materials on employee voice dating back to the early 20th century. Another, “The Labyrinth: How Did You Get Here?,” used a series of mazes to represent the non-linear paths workers take through their careers. A sculpture called “Tied Together” visualized the collective structure of corporate work, and an interactive “Employee Suggestion Box” invited attendees to leave their own contributions.
“We don’t highlight, we don’t archive, we don’t save what they’ve done. We certainly don’t acknowledge their voice,” Flowers told the Bronx Times.
Two of Flowers’ physical sculptures centered on the pen as a tool of workplace resistance. “The Pen Is The Sword,” a sword built from pens and shoelaces, and “Amparo,” a shield made from plywood, pens and shoelaces, drew a direct line between writing and power for workers who lack formal authority. Flowers’ daughter Brittany Bess, who catered the event with homemade empanadas, said the imagery resonated with her own experience.
“That’s all you have in the workforce sometimes when you’re not in a leadership position, especially as a woman, especially as a person of color. So the pen is our sword and that’s our strongest ally when it comes to feeling like you don’t have any other grounds to stand on in the workforce,” Bess told the Bronx Times. Bess told the outlet she will soon launch her own food business, Thee Bess Bite Theory.
Bess recruited a longtime friend, Danielle Walsh, to help cater the event after learning Walsh had started Sips Co., a fresh drink business. Walsh brought Ginger Lemonade and Apple Fusion juices. “I do enjoy the fact that everybody that’s here is speaking about their employee experience and basically just seeing that community and seeing how people have the same experiences or maybe totally different experiences and that allows them to give advice to other people,” Walsh told the Bronx Times.
The one other artist Flowers featured was her niece, Ariana Davis. Flowers deliberately included her painting “LOVE,” which depicted red hearts on a purple background. “Our voice doesn’t start as an adult. It starts as a child,” Flowers told the Bronx Times.
Attendee Kimberly Fields, who met Flowers through a shared hairstylist, told the Bronx Times she was most moved by “Tied Together.” “I love the way she put the concept of putting the threads together. But yet you had that inner circle that just popped. And it makes sense, because you always have to have that circle at the workplace in order for everything to pop,” Fields said.
Charles Reeves, who works with the New York City Housing Authority and enjoyed his job there, contributed to the suggestion box. “In truth, every day is a gift. Please remind your friends and family how much you love them, and because one day, you won’t be able to,” Reeves wrote, according to the Bronx Times.
Flowers told the Bronx Times she envisions a V.O.I.C.E. Hall building or community space dedicated to recognizing employees, and separately hopes to hire a licensed social worker and host organizational award ceremonies and company parties. She also hopes to collaborate with additional featured artists in future exhibitions.
