OVERVIEW
THE NEW FREEDOM PROJECT
with visual artist,
Charmaine Minniefield
The New FreedomProject recalls Emancipation and recognizes the achievement and strength of a people who although most recently affected by slavery, somehow created a place for themselves within the shifting American landscape. The New Freedom Project is inspired by this pivotal moment in history and subsequent freedom movements since.
The New Freedom Project uses art to reclaim the lost narratives of disappearing African-American communities and history. It positions these black stories and their heroes and heroins as icons within the current social landscape of our day.
This community-based arts initiative includes an artist residency, historical preservation, community collaboration, genealogical research and a final exhibition of work inspired by the history of each community it serves. The New Freedom Project engages audiences in a journey through history, as they celebrate and remember their ancestors by recording and retelling their stories – the American story of freedom.
The resulting body of work, presents the ancestors as sacred symbols or icons which celebrate the past, hoping to affect change in the present in order to inform our path to mutual respect and understanding in the future.
PROJECT COMPONENTS