Artist Talk with Keith Magruder
Friday, June 20, 2025
7:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Manhattan Beach Art Center
1560 Manhattan Beach Boulevard
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266 

Join us for an inspiring evening with artist Keith Magruder at the Manhattan Beach Art Center. In this intimate talk, Magruder will share stories behind his solo exhibition Let Me Fix You a Plate, reflecting on ancestry, Black cultural traditions, and personal narratives through vibrant watercolor works and sculptural installations. Learn how food, quilts, and butterflies become powerful symbols of memory and identity in his art.

This free event is open to all—connect, reflect, and celebrate the richness of cultural storytelling.

RSVP today

Let Me Fix You a Plate

Exhibition Schedule: April 18 through June 29, 2025
In Let Me Fix You a Plate, Keith Magruder invites us to gather around the table—not just for a meal, but for a conversation about history, memory, and the power of storytelling. Inspired by the lessons passed down from his grandmother—stories often absent from mainstream history—Magruder reflects on the ways knowledge is shared within families and communities.

Central to this exhibition is the dining table, a domestic space where food becomes a metaphor for culture, heritage, and the resilience of Black communities. Magruder considers Manhattan Beach’s own history through the lens of Bruce’s Beach, a once-thriving Black-owned resort seized from the Bruce family in the 1920s. This exhibition serves as both a celebration of Black prosperity and a meditation on the Black Renaissance—honoring the past while envisioning a future of renewal and success.

Employing trompe-l'œil techniques with paper and watercolor, Magruder recreates everyday objects with striking realism, evoking nostalgia and the warmth of home. Butterflies, delicately incorporated throughout the installation, symbolize both ancestors and migration—drawing parallels between the movement of species, the influence of food, and the global diaspora of Black people.

Through this immersive installation, Magruder offers a space for reflection and reconnection, reminding us that history is not just recorded in textbooks but passed from hand to hand, from plate to plate.

“Let Me Fix You a Plate” will be exhibited at the Manhattan Beach Art Center, located at 1560 Manhattan Beach Boulevard, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266.  The event is free and open to the public. For further information about the exhibition and the Manhattan Beach Art Center, please visit Exhibitions | City of Manhattan Beach or contact Cultural Arts Supervisor Randy Niessen.