Why Do You Have to Make Everything About Race? is the MFA Thesis Exhibition of works by Amanda Chestnut. Archival photographs and stories combine with contemporary imagery and the artists’ narrative to connect socio-political history with personal history. In many brief books, archival photography and ephemera combine with poetry and periodical text to convey the history, the emotion, and the lasting impact of historic events. The bookworks presented are representative of two years of work within the Soibelman Syndicate News Agency Archive.

Amanda Chestnut is a visual artist from Rochester, New York. A Master of Fine Arts candidate at Visual Studies Workshop, her work focuses on the representation of history, how information is preserved, and how the history of race and gender have come to impact modern narratives.