African Portals
- Steel, Wood
- Queen Brooks
The Kwanzaa Playground is Ohio's first Africentric, arts-inspired playground.
Kwanzaa Playground, also known as the Children’s Africentric Playground, sits on just over half an acre of land in the Old Towne East neighborhood. The park was renovated in 2014 with new play equipment and art restoration as well as a new portal by artist Queen Brooks.
Queen Brooks was one among seven original artists, Bill Agnew, Barbara Chavous, Andrew Scott, Larry Winston Collins, Pheoris West, and LaVerne Brown, who contributed to the Kwanzaa Playground which was developed in 1995 as a joint effort between the community and the City of Columbus. It is designed in the shape of a human figure, which represents the first ancestor and the park focuses on positive African-American images based on the concept that “It takes a whole village to raise a child”. The collection of art in the playground supports the theme of “lessons for living” based on the “Nguzo Saba” or the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa. These principles are unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.
Brooks’ work symbolizes peace and tries to bring a sense of welcoming and calm to all visitors. Brooks’ current "African Portal" is constructed out of steel to ensure its longevity as a beautiful architectural piece for decades to come.
The original African Portal is painted wood and located at the main entrance of the park. Painted on the Portal are various African images and figures based on African history and mythology, such as the sun, snakes, turtles and Adinkra symbols. Brooks also painted three images of African masks on the Portal: a Baule Kple Kple mask, a Senufo Kpelie mask from the Ivory Coast, and a third mask which is not of any specific type, but rather the artist's interpretation of different elements of African masks. In addition to using paint to create the images on the African Portals, Brooks also burned grooves into the wood in order to create a relief on the surface, giving the images more of a three-dimensional effect through sunlight and shadows.
- Created: 1995 and 2014
- Current Location: Kwanzaa Playground at English Park (google map)
- Collections: Outdoor, Sculptures