FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media contact:
Davinia Reed
713.526.1015
December4, 2020
HMAAC Announces MASK-UP! Public Art/Public Safety Project
The Houston Museum of African American Culture (HMAAC) is proud to announce MASK-UP!, it’s public art project that begins this holiday week. MASK-UP! is a community empowering project of neighborhood partners who have come together during this holiday season to underscore Mayor Sylvester Turner’s COVID-19 Mask-Up call during Thanksgiving and Christmas.
HMAAC commissioned artist Cedric Ingram to design an image for signs that will be used on buildings in city neighborhoods of color, including Sunnyside, Fifth Ward, Third Ward and Acres Home, and on a Johnson Funeral Home hearse that has been periodically driving through neighborhoods, touching base with Mayor Turner to strongly message the deadliness of the virus.
A mask and Ingram designed button giveaway will take place in the HMAAC parking lot December 5 at 11:00 am. The artist will be joined by City Councilwoman Carolyn Evans Shabazz, whose office is a lead sponsor of the MASK-UP! public art project. Shabazz has ordered Ingram designed masks for her staff after the Mayor requested them along with the buttons.
According to Ingram, “In the design of the artwork, I wanted to use vibrant colors to draw attention which you can see is evident in the background and the mask. The contrast and detail of the layered oil pastel in the figure plays against the more two-dimensional graphic elements around the girl. This is a technique that is consistent with a lot of my current work. Houston is also so rich in culture and the arts with its numerous murals throughout the city. I wanted to a give a nod of recognition to this in the final design. Notice the “handstyle” lettering of the “Love U Hou” (kind of a play on the “Luv Ya Blue” slogan that Houston is so familiar with) in the background. You can also see subtle Houston references with urban flair such as the astronaut helmet, skyline, cassette tape, and Scott St. sign.”
But this work was not just about art for Ingram, it was about community as well. “I couldn’t resist,” he said, “a chance to have my art send a direct message for a cause that speaks to the health and well-being of our community. We have seen this pandemic really shake up our daily lives. Of course, with certain social inequities, we’ve seen largely populated minority communities heavily impacted. I felt this opportunity could be the best way for me to make a contribution and take action on the issue. We’ve got to protect ourselves and others against COVID19, and we must continue to protect our communities on so many levels.”
The artist’s enthusiasm is shared by the museum, which is appreciative of the community response and continually growing list of sponsors/partners in this project. Sponsor/partners include the Office of Councilwoman Carolyn Evans Shabazz, The Deluxe Theater, Kevin Riles Realtor, Lyons Avenue Supermarket, Guess Group, Inc. and Johnson Funeral Home. This is HMAAC’s second public art project with Johnson Funeral Home, which provides not only the project hearse but its driver. The first project was the renowned These Lives Matter message mural on the building side facing Griggs.
The MASK-Up! project follows on previous HMAAC community public art initiatives that fulfill its mission as a “museum in a building and in the community,” one that inspires and directly impacts low income areas. Most recently, in response to COVID-19, the Museum’s Sunset Cinema community drive-ins in partnership with the Shrine of the Black Madonna have become a community staple and led to other community agents joining with the museum, including the AKA Sorority and the Fifth Ward Redevelopment Corp to host neighborhood drive-ins.
According to CEO Emeritus John Guess, Jr., “We continue to see value in the empowerment that results from an African American asset investing in our neighborhoods across the city.”
In the MASK-UP! project, the museum takes a stand as an African American cultural asset on the side of science, on the side of the hard hit African American and Latinx communities and in support of Mayor Turner, messaging directly to communities of color the importance of wearing masks during this deadly surge. Mask-UP!
#####
ABOUT THE HOUSTON MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURE
The mission of HMAAC is to collect, conserve, explore, interpret, and exhibit the material and intellectual culture of Africans and African Americans in Houston, the state of Texas, the southwest and the African Diaspora for current and future generations. In fulfilling its mission, HMAAC seeks to invite and engage visitors of every race and background and to inspire children of all ages through discovery-driven learning. HMAAC is to be a museum for all people. While our focus is the African American experience, our story informs and includes not only people of color, but people of all colors. As a result, the stories and exhibitions that HMAAC will bring to Texas are about the indisputable fact that while our experience is a unique one, it has been impacted by and has impacted numerous races, genders and ethnicities. The museum continues to be a space where a multicultural conversation on race geared toward a common future takes place.
No comments:
Post a Comment