Live & Local: “12 Tablecloths” by Chloé Duplessis

Currently on display at The Center for Colorado Women’s History is “12 Tablecloths,” an immersive art experience that re-envisions a Southern dining table through the lens of Afro-futurism. The inspiration goes back 3 years to a trip that artist and historian Chloé Duplessis took to the Whitney Plantation in Wallace, Louisiana, where she learned about the lives of 5 women who were enslaved in the late 1800s.

Now based in Denver, Chloé carried with her the stories of these 5 women along with her and while looking for a home for the exhibition, learned of the story of a black woman named Myrtle Grant who served as a laundress at the historic Evans-Byers house on Bannock Street in the 1930s and 1940s. With this link to Colorado history and permission from the family, Chloé Duplessis set the table for six.

“12 Tablecloths” now resides in the formal dining room of the historic Byers-Evans Home. The dining table in the center of the room would not have had seats for the people of color serving in the homes back then. Through this installation, Chloé Duplessis leads a discussion around domestic service, early American culinary traditions, and the ideological roots of the United States.

I joined Chloé Duplessis for an insightful conversation about “12 Tablecloths,” before her final August tour. During our walkthrough, she revealed lesser-known truths about the past while inspiring new perspectives on what the future could hold. A video of this tour is available below.

“12 Tablecloths is on display now through the end of September at The Center for Colorado Women’s History. To register for a tour, visit Duplessis Art.

Below is the traveling schedule of where “12 Tablecloths” will be headed next:

July 13 – Sept 30, 2024- Center for Colorado Women’s History
April – June  2025- Trinidad History Museum in Trinidad
July – Sept. 2025 – Healy House Museum & Dexter Cabin in Leadville
March – May 2026- Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center in Fort Garland
Sept. – Nov. 2026- El Pueblo History Museum in Pueblo

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