Bronzeville Week for The Arts
This mural presents various depictions of the art, music, and imagery within the Milwaukee area. For this mural, as I conducted my research I looked at the community murals, artists, and organizations and I was able to derive a design that I feel truly helps highlight the bronzeville culture. This design is a combination of artists, organizations, and Milwaukee historic events. I have included art from the Milwaukee renowned artist Della Wells using a cutout of her piece “ A Storm in a TeaCup” as well as screen shots from her video with Blackbox Visuals called “Della Wells and Mamboland”. I took inspiration from community murals with a cutout of an arts installation by Jazale’s Art studio, which is an arts organization by artist Darren Hill, located in Bronzeville. The piece I included depicts multiple hands decorated by community youth. The Yorba head is reminiscent of the African world Festival that no longer occurs in Milwaukee but was once a celebration of development of African culture and heritage of the atlantic slave trade to the modern era, it was a way to highlight global contribution by people of the African Disporia and give voice to the Milwaukee African American Community. The Yorba head is a prominent symbol I've seen often in relation to culture in Milwaukee also being used in a mural by Reynaldo Hernandez, which served as part of the logo for the 2021 Wisconsin conference on Latinx Art and culture. To further depict cultural pride I have included the Pan-African flag, which represents people of the African Diaspora and black liberation in the United states. To bring in more about the musical culture of Milwaukee, specifically its deep Jazz roots I have included a picture of Jabbo Smith, a trumpet player, this photo is of him rehearsing at the Milwaukee Conservatory of Music. The last detail Is the depiction of sunflowers which I took from works by Arron Boyd, a Milwaukee artist that has work at the Jazz gallery Center for the arts, and Bronzeville center for the arts. I brought these into the piece due to the meaning of the sunflower being something I see throughout the Bronzveille community which is adoration, loyalty, and longevity. With all of these parts I have depicted a mural that will represent pride in the art and culture of the Bronzveille community.
Press:
- https://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/festivals/2022/08/04/milwaukees-bronzeville-week-2022-entertainment-art-culture/10228915002/
Press:
- https://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/festivals/2022/08/04/milwaukees-bronzeville-week-2022-entertainment-art-culture/10228915002/