PRESS RELEASE: MARTHA’S VINEYARD MUSEUM PRESENTS AUSTIN BRYANT EXHIBITION

Press release: FEBRUARY 2025

Martha’s Vineyard Museum Presents Exhibition Where They Still Remain by Austin Bryant

Vineyard Haven, MA – The Martha’s Vineyard Museum is thrilled to present Where They Still
Remain, an exhibition by photographer and writer Austin Bryant, whose work explores the enduring presence of Black and Wampanoag communities on Martha’s Vineyard- communities that have shaped and sustained the Island for centuries.

The exhibition is rooted in a remarkable story from 1854, where an enslaved man named Randall Burton escaped from a ship just offshore from Vineyard Haven. Pursued by authorities, he fled across the Island and hid in the landscape of Aquinnah, where he was found by Beulah Vanderhoop, a Wampanoag woman who sheltered him and ensured his safe passage to freedom in Canada.

167 years later, Bryant stood in that very same landscape, unknowingly retracing the steps of a
history that had nearly been lost. Through his research and photography, he uncovered this
story—and many others—of how Black and Wampanoag people have navigated displacement,
oppression, and resilience on the island for centuries.

Bryant’s work merges original photography, vernacular imagery, historical documents, and
redacted archival newspaper texts to illuminate the intertwined legacies of these communities.
His portraits capture contemporary Islanders, while landscapes—often photographed in
winter’s solitude—evoke a quiet yet enduring presence. By selectively redacting 19th- and
20th-century articles from The Vineyard Gazette, Bryant exposes the ways Black and
Indigenous lives were framed and forgotten by dominant narratives.

Martha’s Vineyard is more than a summer retreat; it is a living testament to survival, memory,
and connection to the land. Through Where They Still Remain, Bryant invites visitors to engage
with history not as something distant, but as something still unfolding.

Join us for the opening reception on Friday, February 28 from 5:30 to 7 PM, where Austin
Bryant will discuss his process and the stories that inspired this powerful body of work. For
more information about the exhibition and other events at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum,
please visit mvmuseum.org

About the Artist
Austin Bryant is a photographer and writer based in Boston, Massachusetts. His work concerns communities of color and the landscape on which they remain. Through intimate connections
with both people and place, he aims to memorialize the histories that have been forsaken or
systematically erased.

About Martha’s Vineyard Museum
The Martha’s Vineyard Museum inspires all people to discover, explore, and strengthen their connections to the Island and its diverse heritage. Through exhibitions, programs, and a vast collection of artifacts, photographs, and oral histories, the Museum preserves and shares the stories of Martha’s Vineyard—past and present. Located in Vineyard Haven, the Museum offers year-round opportunities for learning and engagement for visitors of all ages. For more information, visit mvmuseum.org.