“We must remember and continue to tell”
Dr. Charmaine McKissick-Melton
OUR STORY
Beginning in 2013, 30 diverse community members, ages
15-65, came together during a 16-week period to engage in Durham’s Civil Rights History through a series of lectures, music performances, research and design workshops. The group then gathered what they discovered into a collaborative mural design. In late May-July 2014
these same folks, with the help of the greater community, will paint this 2400 square foot mural in downtown Durham, under the direction of muralist Brenda
Miller Holmes.
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Arising from this process is a multimedia, multi platform educational outreach project directed by award-winning documentary filmmaker Rodrigo Dorfman. The stories documented will be personal and thematic, reflecting a
painful past and addressing present issues of race and class in a city that is a
state of transition and gentrification. These stories will emerge from the design of the mural and
the final "story" will go beyond the mural itself into the lives of
the characters who participate in this creative process. The documentary material will also be the cornerstone of our educational outreach materials we intend to create to help bring this story and process to other communities in the South.
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Please
join us and contribute to keep this inspiring history alive and honor the
sacrifices of the many Durham citizens who fought for equity and justice.
WHAT WE NEED AND WHY
In 2012, our project was selected by the
City of Durham, for its first public art pilot program, and we received a
generous grant that covered 80% of the initial cost of the mural. Since then,
the size of the wall has grown 300%. Our 800 square foot wall is now a 2400 square foot wall! Can you picture that?
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The mural will be located on the rear wall of the Durham Visitors and Convention Center facing Morris Street, next to Durham Arts Council.
While we are really excited about
the new downtown location and expanded space, we need more of everything. More
paint, more brushes, more scaffolding…you
name it. We also realize the importance of building on this project and
reaching as many people as possible about Durham’s profound Civil Rights
History, so we are working on a multimedia project to engage community with the
history in multiple ways. We need your help!
First and foremost, we need $7000
to finish the mural. 2400 square feet is a lot of additional space so we
require a lot of additional materials, not to mention insurance and expanded
scaffolding. We also need $3000 to complete the first documentary phase of our multimedia educational project, which involves filming the creation of the mural and interviewing five participants. The second phase will consist of putting together a short documentary, a booklet and an interactive website.
And finally,
we need you! Community is central to making this project a reality. Please
check out our perks, become an honored sponsor, and donate what you can.
WHY WE NEED THIS WALL
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Our hope for the project is to honor the unsung
heroes, while taking a longer view. History is often presented in one top-down
dimension that honors leaders and ignores the tremendous efforts of everyday
people. Our desire is to depict a fuller history, celebrating the hundreds of
Durham Citizens whose feet were on the ground working and to commemorate the
incredible sacrifices that they made to create change. I also believe that
sharing this history is just as important for looking forward as it is for looking
back. Understanding the power of each person’s contribution to collective
effort has the potential to inspire new movement as we continue to strive for
justice.
GET INVOLVED
“The success of the movement was due to the wisdom of the elders and the impatience of the youth” Mickey Michaux - North Carolina General Assembly
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Jhordan Perry, Senator Floyd B. McKissick, Jr. Dr. Charmaine McKissick-Melton
We also need your time and good humor! We are inviting the greater community to come and paint with us. Don’t consider
yourself an artist? Don’t worry about that, bring your good energy and
contribute to this historic public artwork. If this sounds like fun (it is!),
please reach out to brenda(at)brendamillerholmes.com
and dates will be announced.
Also, share this campaign via email and social
networks. Spread the word and pick up a paint brush. You will not regret it.
MORE ABOUT THE PROJECT
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Funded by the City of Durham, through an
initiative of the Durham Cultural Advisory Board, under Durham’s Cultural
Master Plan, with additional sponsorship by the Hayti Heritage Center, a
diverse group of 30 community members, fifteen youth and fifteen adults, have
come together to learn about Durham’s profound Civil Rights History. The
project began with a series of educational lectures led by Dr. Benjamin Speller
as the education team leader. Dr. Speller served as the Dean of the School of
Library and Information Sciences at North Carolina Central University (NCCU)
from 1983-2004, is a scholar of Durham Civil Rights History and served as the
president of Preservation Durham from 2000-2004. He gathered an incredible
teaching team, including North Carolina General Assembly Representative, Mickey
Michaux, Executive Director of the Pauli Murray Project, Barbara Lau,
Coordinator of University Archives/Instructor of Public History, NCCU, Andre
Vann, veteran Civil Rights activist Vivian McCoy, North
Carolina Senator Floyd B. McKissick and Department Chair, Mass Communications
at NCCU Dr. Charmiane McKissick-Melton. Held in February and March of 2013 at
the Hayti Heritage Center, this series was free and open to the public. Following
these lectures the participants engaged in additional research and collaborated
to create a cohesive mural design under the direction of muralist Brenda Miller
Holmes.
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Brenda
Miller Holmes is a muralist and art educator that has facilitated collaborative
community mural projects throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and
internationally and she studied and worked with Master Muralist Susan Cervantes
of Precita Eyes Muralists from 2005-2011. Trained in an artistic approach
mirroring that of popular education, Brenda’s interest lies at the intersection
of art, activism, community empowerment and social justice. She now lives and
works in Durham, NC and is passionate about sharing this
unifying collaborative creative experience. Beyond mural making, her art
teaching experience spans a variety of media and she has led workshops with
people of all ages, from toddlers through adults. Check her out at http://www.brendamillerholmes.com
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Rodrigo Dorfman is an award winning
filmmaker and multimedia producer who has worked with POV, HBO, Salma
Hayek's Ventanazul and the BBC among others. His films have been screened
at some of the top international film festivals in the world (Toronto, Full
Frame, Edinburgh, Telluride, Human Rights Watch). With his father he has
won best screenplay award from the Writer's Guild of Great Britain for
"Prisoners in Time" (1997). Rodrigo Dorfman won the Jury Award for Best Short at
the Full Frame Film Festival with his jazz doc "One Night in Kernersville"(2011). He is currently developing a documentary-based national
museum exhibit with the Levine Museum of the New South on the living history of
the Latinos in the South. Check him out at http://www.melloweb.com