"Art is Business"
The Vision: We acknowledge that art-an essential, encompassing life element- has the ability to produce an environment with a productive cultural exchange of ideas.
Our Mission:
Our mission is to open minds and change lives through the exploration and celebration of African American history, experiences and culture through art education and outreach.
The Project: (Community Mural Beautification and Educational Workshops)
A Marcus Garvey Quote ( A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin, and culture is like a tree without roots.)
Sojourner Truth Museum will kick off July 15th through Dec 15th. Artist working with the museum will provide a series of work-study sessions incorporating film documentaries from the artist of the Harlem Renaissance time period to youth at the Mack Road Valley High Community center. Youth who attend this center will learn about Jazz artist, visual artist, Poets, and Writers who impacted their community through the arts. August 31st we will kick off a community celebration called “Cotton Comes to Harlem” and invite the entire community to come and paint with muralist to create murals inspired by the artist of that time period.
For example, we will create the Langston Hughes Poetry Benches. Images of Langston Hughes will be painted on a bench with one or two of his famous poems on the bench. Another example is a Totem Pole of Lois Mailou Jones will be created with images of her famous geometric shapes and bold colors added and a sound feature will finalize the art piece. We will provide entertainment throughout the day featuring poems that the youth created in their workshops. Kids in the Jazz music program will perform as well as the Art instructors.
We will provide food and drinks for everyone who comes out to paint alongside the artist. Community participants (youth) will help clean the garden beds and work with our artist to create mosaic tile art around the beds. The goal of this project is to create public art with images youth can identify with. Also, we hope to educate youth about the important role and legacy artist from the Harlem Renaissance played in shaping history and the vibrant communities they lived in. We understand kids can sometimes feel hopeless and unworthy but when connected with positive imagery (art) and lessons in history youth will be motivated to be creators of their own change and look forward to a more productive future.
