The Art and Culture subgroup believes that art must be at every table. Art is an instrumental in opening minds, bringing folks together and creative problem solving. The role of art and creativity in our lives cannot be underestimated because art connects our shared humanity. The position of art in social justice is clearly stated in the reminder that Funmi brings us with the words of the poet Larry Neal:

“Black Art is the aesthetic and spiritual sister of the Black Power concept.”

The Art & Culture subgroup is working on many different levels and projects. Two projects that happen outside of the meetings are a building sized historical photographs of young black RI women and the ALL-BLACK LIVES MATTER street mural which was installed in June 2021. Another focus is how they can get a better sense of how they can use their positions for advocacy, a survey is in the works focused on the importance of black artists and black owned arts organizations and what they need to survive. Additionally, the group is creating regular artful interventions for the larger AAA group to ease the hard work and pain of fighting injustice.

The group has been visited by many different folks throughout their tenure but the core group is:

Valerie Tutson – vtutson@yahoo.com
Jess Brown – Jessb983@gmail.com
Raffini – raffini_productions@yahoo.com
Muraina Akinfolarin
J Juan Wilson

Staff lead:

Lizzie Araujo