The City of Minneapolis and partners Obsidian Arts, Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center, and the U of M’s Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC) hosted a community event on January 23 featuring the 17 master and emerging artists selected to participate in the John Biggers Seed (Seed) project.
Seed is inspired by Bigger’s Celebration of Life mural and the role the mural played in launching the careers of young artists and organizations, and planting artistic “seeds” on the Northside. The project is designed to teach the emerging artists about African American art and community history, while providing them with career development and transferable skills. For the next eight months, they will be working closely with four master artists to create a sense of place that speaks to the culture of North Minneapolis. The new artwork will be installed at Interstate 94 at Highway 55 in October.
The January 23 event officially kicked-off the Seed project and featured visiting master artists Willis Bing Davis of Ohio and Jon Onye Lockard of Michigan, and a short presentation about the Celebration of Life mural and the work of John Biggers.
Community members met Davis, Lockard and the other Seed artists: Tacoumba Aiken, Seitu Jones, Mica Anders, Chrys Carroll, Roger Cummings, Patrick Cunningham, Angela Davis, Loretta Day, Christopher Aaron Deanes, Adrienne Doyle, Jeremiah Bey Ellison, Jordan Hamilton, Chris Harrison, Esther Osayande and Chris Scott.
The Bigger’s Seed project is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Our Town program, the McKnight Foundation’s Region and Communities program, the City of Minneapolis’ Art in Public Places program and the Pohlad Foundation.
The community is invited to participate in a series of four art history workshops taking place on Saturdays in February and March. The events will be free, hosted at UROC, and open to the public. For info on dates and locations call 673-3006 or visit minneapolismn.gov/dca/. For info on Seed, including biographies and photos of the project artists, visit the City’s website.