CDCP x The Future is Black x WCDC Present: Vania Evangelique

Opening reception: Saturday, July 25, 2026, 12-3 PM

On view: July 25, 2026 - October 17, 2026

Gallery hours: Every other Saturday 12-5 PM

CDCP, The Future is Black, and WCDC are thrilled to kick off the 2026-2027 season of Art All Over with a solo exhibition by artist Vania Evangelique. We’re excited to partner with The Future is Black for this upcoming season and are looking forward to the future of this program under their vision and leadership.

Light and language; what it illuminates and what it does not is the means in which I position my subjects, capturing an experience lived in a moment. I do this through the mediums of photography and writing where I purposefully seek out still moments that are found in nature, the environments in which I am placed, and the intimacy of my own home. And by doing so the mundane, transitional, and stretching processes of life are able to be fully expressed. The pursuit of still moments was born out of my upbring in Brooklyn, NY and the stark contrast of my later youth in Bethlehem, PA. I spent time analyzing and digesting the difference of feeling between grass and hot concrete on my feet, the smell of pollen versus car exhaust, the subtly of voices amongst the city to the insects singing to the evening night, and how looking into the night sky lent itself to city lights versus the vastness of the stars. This dichotomic rhythm of existing was one that required me to be attentive to environments that were transforming outwardly and inwardly. It’s in this noticing that I have become more present to the current moment where I now use place as an anchor, bringing with it an awareness of space. Both my photography and writing takes on a narrative approach that is often emotionally expository, revealing itself my deeper thoughts, feelings and observations of the world that I encounter. No matter the medium, my intention is to present an invitation to pay closer attention to the world we occupy; and create within it a space to appreciate the beauty found in the unlikely of places.

About Vania Evangelique:

Vania Evangelique (b. 1996) is a photographer and writer from Bethlehem, PA by way of Brooklyn, NY. Since receiving her BA in Photojournalism in 2018 from Point Park University, she has participated in residencies such as Brew House Arts as an artist and curatorial resident, exhibited with the Associated Artist of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, and was a studio artist with arts letters & numbers in Albany, NY. Curatorially, she enjoys fostering the voices of artists and has since served as an art installer apprentice with Casey Droege Cultural Productions, photographed arts news events with nextPittsburgh, and illuminated the Pittsburgh art scene through artist reviews with the commercial gallery Wick Monet.

About The Future is Black:

Ahmed Tacumba Turner Jr. is a Pittsburgh-based multidisciplinary arts professional, curator, and community development strategist. As Founder and Creative Director of The Future Is Black (2019–Present), he has produced 10 exhibitions and showcases across Pittsburgh's cultural institutions, distributing $15,000+ in artist stipends, facilitating $5,000+ in artwork sales, and engaging over 2,000 attendees — building a sustained platform for BIPOC artists in the region.

Tacumba's curatorial practice centers the visibility, economic sustainability, and cultural power of Black artists. In 2025, he served as Guest Curator and Moderator for Being Seen at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center — the first exhibition at that institution to feature a local guest curator — presenting 38 Pittsburgh artists. He also co-curated Fruits of Seeing (Mavuno) at Sweetwater Center for the Arts as part of their 25th anniversary programming.

Beyond the gallery, Tacumba brings a systems-level perspective to cultural work. He serves on the City of Pittsburgh's 2050 Comprehensive Plan Community Working Group, and holds advisory roles with Upstream, the Vital Village Network, and the O'Connor Campaign Arts Advisory Council.

WCDC's Lohr Gallery

725 Wood St.

Pittsburgh, PA 15221