"Stanton Lines"

I am primarily an abstract artist but a significant portion of my work deals with the African American historical narrative. I am particularly interested in depicting the period after the Civil War called Reconstruction. That interest led to the creation of my painting, “Stanton Lines”. As an American artist who happens to be of African ethnicity, I am especially sensitive to the history of people of color in this country. I hope that my work and style gives a refreshingly different perspective on this subject matter.

I learned the song “Lift Every Voice And Sing” as a small child growing up in the northern city of Plainfield, New Jersey. It was often referred to as the “Black American National Anthem”. We sung it during every assembly service in elementary school yet I knew very little about the origins of the song. It was many years later that I learn about the writer, James Weldon Johnson, and his roots to the city of Jacksonville, FL.

Johnson was a student that later served as a principal of the segregated Old Stanton School. He wrote the words for "Lift Every Voice and Sing" to introduce Booker T. Washington during a celebration of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday in 1900. The school was named after Edwin McMasters Stanton, President Lincoln’s Secretary of War. It was the first school of education for black children in Jacksonville and its surrounding counties, and was the first school of black children in the state of Florida. Today the school is known as Stanton College Preparatory School.

In the painting, I reference Johnson’s contribution to the school by serving as its principal and also the Education Society for its role in purchasing the land for the Old Stanton School. Using old photos from the Florida Archives, I arrange the composition to speak to the history of the school. I also collage images of African sculptures near the bottom of the piece to speak to the roots of the African American people.