Written by: Genesis Leonard | June 14, 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am an Alabama native and a senior majoring in Fine Arts at Alabama State University. My concentration is art history, and I plan to direct a history museum. When I did my initial research on Joe Minter before I began this internship, I connected with his story both intimately and spiritually. Reading his biography on the Souls Grown Deep website, I was intrigued by his connection with God, his experiences with racism and segregation, and his upbringing. His ability to artistically convey the racial turmoil both he and his ancestors endured in America is moving. However, in regard to his artistic style, I had trouble connecting with some of his pieces visually. I love how Mr. Minter uses found objects to create assemblages with ancestral meaning. Although he is an unconventional artist, during this project I connected more with his representational pieces such as, \u201cFour Little Girls + MLK\u201d. This piece acknowledges the four young ladies that lost their lives at the 16th<\/sup> Street Baptist Church Bombing. The four chairs are labeled with their names: Addie May Collins, Carol Denise McNair, Cynthia Wesley, and Carole Rosamond Robertson. Behind is a wooden plank labeled \u201cFather Forgive.\u201d This is just one example of how Minter uses his art to bring awareness to the long-standing violence directed towards African Americans. Minter\u2019s work can be categorized as \u201cyard art\u201d, and according to Souls Grown Deep,<\/em> \u201cSome African American yard artists link the present generation to the past through an old cooking utensil or sewing machine once used by a mother or grandmother; others reflect the lifestyle, social station, or worldview of their makers (Arnett, 2000, p.40).\u201d Mr. Minter emphasizes that the objects used for his assemblages have ties to the ancestors that were discarded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On the last day of the internship, we were privileged to speak to Matt Arnett and Lonnie Holley. Mr. Holley is a Birmingham-based, African American artist that creates sculptures using found objects. Lonnie’s daughter discovered Joe Minter’s pieces while visiting the cemetery adjacent to Minter’s home. She saw some familiarity between her father and Joe Minter’s pieces. Listening to Lonnie’s inspiration behind his pieces, allowed me to realize the significance of these found objects used in their assemblages. These objects not only have ties to our ancestors, but also signify the things that they were unable to attain and the hardships they experienced growing up during Jim Crow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Minter\u2019s deeply spiritual beliefs constantly emerge in his work and in his discussions. As he put it, \u201cArt is a universal gift from God given to man. God was the first artist.\u201d Identifying as an African American woman and having a passion for the arts, it was significant to see someone that I can identify with using his art to make a difference. Not only does Mr. Minter advocate for racial equality through his art but also through protest at Birmingham City Hall. Unfortunately, we were unable to speak to Mr. Minter, but we did see his remarkable site. A few blocks away from his home, I instantly recognized one of his pieces labeled, \u201cHumanity for All.\u201d Seeing this brought a smile to my face knowing that he is serious about his message being seen and heard. This experience has taught me that it is not only important to strive for self-success, but also strive for the betterment of my community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Written by: Genesis Leonard | June 14, 2022 I am an Alabama native and a senior majoring in Fine Arts at Alabama State University. My concentration is art history, and I plan to direct a history museum. When I did my initial research on Joe Minter before I began this internship, I connected with his … My Thoughts on the Joe Minter Project<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adhc.lib.ua.edu\/joeminterproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adhc.lib.ua.edu\/joeminterproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adhc.lib.ua.edu\/joeminterproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adhc.lib.ua.edu\/joeminterproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adhc.lib.ua.edu\/joeminterproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/adhc.lib.ua.edu\/joeminterproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":436,"href":"https:\/\/adhc.lib.ua.edu\/joeminterproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377\/revisions\/436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adhc.lib.ua.edu\/joeminterproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adhc.lib.ua.edu\/joeminterproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adhc.lib.ua.edu\/joeminterproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}