Collaborate in the Community
And Still I Rise
St. Frances and the Millennium Project and artist LeRoy Johnson
2005
With support from the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Baltimore Clayworks hosted LeRoy Johnson of Philadelphia for a six-month residency to engage the Brentwood Village neighborhood surrounding St. Frances Academy.Working in sustained classes and one-time workshops, LeRoy Johnson, with Clayworks community artist Herb Massie, directed more than 100 youth and adults in the creation of a 750 square foot mosaic tile mural honoring the struggles and achievements of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, who founded St. Frances Academy, the nation’s oldest African American Institution, in 1828. Clayworks acquired permission from Maya Angelou’s publisher to title the mural And Still I Rise, after an inspiring poem baring this title. Images of angels, portraits of historical figures and other symbols are portrayed in vibrant tile and glass mosaic word. LeRoy worked with many diverse individuals and groups on this project, including young people and adults living in Brentwood Village, teens from the “Youth Works” program, young people of the Community Law in Action group from North Carolina, adult staff of St. Frances, the project steering committee comprised of local business owners and community leaders, and the existing order of Oblate Sisters. These participants left the project with an understanding of the mosaic process and with a sense of how the arts can be a powerful tool for communication. They also gained an appreciation of a little known but momentous part of African-American history in Baltimore. Leroy’s great enthusiasm for the history of social justice and civil rights in this country made him an inspiring and motivational leader.
Back
