Welcome to the UrbanArt Commission website. From here you can check for updates and other UrbanArt news on:
If you are an artist, learn about our works in progress by going to our artist info link and signing up for our e-mail newsletter. Also, check our blog for more frequent updates.
UrbanArt Commission's Highlighted Project for the Month of July:
Orange Mound Community Center
Each month, the UAC website will focus on one of our completed works to give insights and reflections on some of the projects that we have organized over the past ten years. The month of July will center around the murals at the Orange Mound Community Center .
Project Description:
Local artist Vitus Shell was commissioned to create four murals for the interior of the Orange Mound Community Center. The murals depict different facets of the Orange Mound community, including people, schools, and sports. Shell worked closely with the Orange Mound Collaborative to collect information from Orange Mound residents about their history and experiences in the neighborhood and that memorabilia was copied and used as the background of the murals. Images of people were also taken from the momentoes and painted onto the backgrounds. The result is a mixture of old and new, and a creative interpretation of life in Orange Mound.
Brief Artist Biography:
While a student at the Memphis College of Art, Vitus Shell, a Monroe, LA. native, traveled and learned about different cultures and art forms. He attended the National Black Fine Arts Show in 1999 for the first time and received a first hand view of the inner workings of the art world. Other artists he met while at MCA who have continuously inspired him include Brenda Joysmith, George Hunt, and Alonzo Davis. Shell is currently the vice president of NIA, a support organization for young artists based in Memphis, TN.
To date, he has accumulated an impressive list of achievements, some of which include: participating in exhibits at universities, museums, and private galleries across the country; painting a mural for the National Civil Rights Museum’s NBA Pioneers exhibit; and being commissioned to do public art by the Memphis UrbanArt Commission. As an artist, Vitus considers himself a visual griot. He illustrates the stories of people and places that have significantly impacted African-American life today. His images pay homage to slaves, sharecroppers, and countless others whose work remained unappreciated during their time. Vitus seeks to glorify their existence, presenting them as strong, proud, and empowered, while illuminating their plight.
A Word from the Neighborhood:
Everyone that has seen the murals either knows someone in them, or is personally in one of the works. This is a great source of pride and has prompted those people to bring others to see the collages. Everyone has also enjoyed remembering stories that the images evoke and people they grew up with.
~Lillian Dandridge, Orange Mound Community Member
The UrbanArt Commission is funded in part by the City of Memphis, Hyde Foundation, ArtsMemphis and the Tennessee Arts Commission.
This site is hosted by LunaWeb.
Copyright (c) 2008 UrbanArt Commission.
