I am a fairly composed person. Actually, I think that's an understatement; it really takes a lot to make me laugh, or cry, or even get excited over something. But I have to tell you that this morning I really got excited over something I found in the LA Times.
Just look at the picture above. It is one of the shadow-box scenes of African American history crafted by a Compton woman over the past 15 years. Presently displayed in her house, these boxes previously have been taken periodically to various classrooms in Compton, Inglewood and South LA for students to see. But beginning on August 28, they will be placed in The Sisters Market Place in Leimert Park Village. There you'll see representations of Martin Luther King Jr., Maya Angelou, Harriet Tubman, Thurgood Marshall, Florence Joyner -- as well as of just ordinary black families going about their daily lives.
The Times online article has a gaggle of pictures that leave me drooling, and convince me that I will need to satisfy my hunger for experiencing this wonderful folk art by making yet another trip to LA.
The story of why artist Karen Collins started making the shadow boxes in the first place is a sad one, and because of that she took what had been a little hobby and turned it into something of great interest and education. You need to let her tell her own story.
And be sure to look at the pictures that accompany this article. The whole thing made me lose my ordinary placid self and get really jazzed about this! Such a talent she has! I can't wait for August 28th!
1 comment:
Very interesting story. I wish I had unlimited travel funds sometimes.
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