Marita Dingus is one of Seattle's most unique and well-known artists, renowned for works made from scrap materials such as bent wire and often depicting and commenting on the African American experience. For years she made art about the institution of slavery including a monumental, room-size figure of a slave and a wall hanging of the galley of a slave ship. Local art lovers should recall her work at Museum of Glass and Francine Seders Gallery in Seattle, and a previous show at Kittredge Gallery, University of Puget Sound.

The show is called "They Still Hold Us," which refers to "the persistence of invisible forces that contain and restrict" people of color from prospering. Dingus says the fences and shackles in this exhibition refer to such things as prisons and biased law enforcement, which disproportionately affect people of color.

It is a dark, ominous, and yet wondrous exhibition.

Read Alec Clayton's full review of "They Still Hold Us" in the Music & Culture section.

"THEY STILL HOLD US," 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., through Sept. 27, Kittredge Gallery, University of Puget Sound, 1500 N. Warner St., Tacoma, 253.879.3701