BRINGING COMMUNITIES TOGETHER TO ACHIEVE RACIAL JUSTICE
THROUGH ART

ABOUT US

Public Art for Racial Justice Education began shortly after the tragic killing of George Floyd.  We are a broadly based, interracial, non-partisan, non-sectarian organization consisting of volunteers from the communities of East Lyme, Lyme, New London, Norwich, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook, Essex, Waterford, Stonington and are open to other neighboring communities who would like to join us.

As our country struggles to address the underlying issues of racial injustice, we believe that public art has an important role in racial justice awareness and helping to build “the Beloved Community” envisioned by Martin Luther King Jr. Public art can help bring to light the history of the displacement of Indigenous communities, as well as the history of the use of slaves in local households, farms, the whaling industry, the building of ships in the West Indies Trade and the ivory industry.   Through public art and accompanying public programs, we can better understand our true history, but also, it can help us to appreciate the rich diversity of our human family and challenge us to be engaged in contemporary racial justice issues.

We also believe that public art can help to keep alive, from one generation to another, the stories of local and national figures – those such as David Ruggles, Antoine DeSant, Rachel Robinson, Anna Louise James, Ann Petry, Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer and Ruby Bridges – all those who have distinguished themselves as racial justice champions.  Their stories can teach what it means today to make our communities more just, more equitable, more welcoming, and more sustainable. 

Diptych. “The Edmund Pettus Bridge”

Two artists have now completed a diptych depicting a vision of change in our communities from 1965 to the future.  One half honors John Lewis and other Civil Rights leaders, and the other shows the bridge as we hope it will be in the future, uniting diverse communities.  This diptych is traveling between schools, libraries, and faith communities to invite conversation about what is necessary to “cross that bridge” toward a more equitable future.  

Educational opportunities with immersive and interactive programs for children and adult-oriented lectures and conversations – virtual and live – will invite BIPOC artists to share their studios and their artistic visions on how art can serve as a form of advocacy and better understanding.  

Sister murals, starting first in New London, Old Lyme, Norwich, and East Lyme, will provide opportunities for skilled and unskilled artists from different communities, races, ethnicities, and generations to work together under master BIPOC artists to create murals that tell stories and remember cherished values in our respective communities. 

We hope to commission and engage artists to create public art in and for each of our communities. Town by town, working in partnership with art schools, museums, faith communities, civic organizations, and concerned citizens, we hope to provide opportunities for community engagement through public art appropriate for each site and locality.  We will put a high priority on selecting BIPOC artists. 

We also hope to create opportunities for BIPOC art shows, poetry readings, communal art projects, musical programs, and performance art that will engage local and diverse communities.

Public art can be a painful reminder of our past, especially for our BIPOC community members, but also, artistically, it can remind us of those heroes of the human spirit who provide us with a North Star by which our communities someday can find their way to emancipation, “free at last” from the shackles of slavery, Jim Crow and racial injustice.

Founders
The Rev. Jack Madry
The Rev. David W. Good

Steering Committee
Co-Chair, Nancy Gladwell
Co-Chair, Eddie Long
Secretary, Jac Lahav
Asst. Secretary, Kimberly Monson
Shiela Hayes
Tiffani Gavin
George Willauer

Advisors
Wendy Bury, Southeastern CT Cultural Coalition
Curtis Goodwin, New London City Councilman
Maryam Elahi, President Community Foundation Eastern CT
Morgan Tuck, Director Franchise Development CT Sun

Volunteer Consultant
Michelle Dunlop

Fiscal Sponsor: We are pleased that we can receive tax-deductible contributions, to the full extent allowed by law, thanks to our Fiscal Sponsor, The Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut

Financial Support : Projects made possible with the help of CT Humanities, Sustainable CT, Community Foundation of Eastern CT, South Eastern CT Cultural Coalition.

 

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