Pulitzer Center Update February 28, 2025
The Black Arts District: Engaging Community with Art Inspired by '1619'
The following reflection was written by Shauntrice Martin, recipient of the 2024 1619 Impact Grant. Martin created a four-month arts intensive, the Black Arts District, for educators, students, and community members in Louisville, Kentucky.
I can’t lie. Completing this project was hard. This isn’t surprising because we took on something that hasn’t been done in our community. There were many times when I wanted to quit, but the dedicated, practical, hard-working, beautiful, talented individuals on my team made it happen and created a safe space for Black children. I will always have love for them, and to them I say thank you.
Thank you, Laniesha. Thank you, SteVon. Thank you, Desmone. Thank you, Mrs. Harlina. Thank you, Ms. Mama Yaa. Thank you, Jabani. Thank you, Shashray. Thank you, Ashe. Thank you, Angela. Thank you, Fitzgerald. Thank you, Ms. Rhonda. Thank you to every single person who attended and shared our work. This initiative gave me a much better appreciation for all the work teachers do and all the ways the current legislators can advocate for Black history in Kentucky.
Our bold team vision was to build the foundation for a Black Arts District that will protect the legacy of Black history in Louisville, Kentucky. Our mission was to provide Louisville students with comprehensive arts education programming that fostered creativity, critical thinking, and an understanding of racial justice. The four-month arts intensive completed as a part of our 1619 Impact Grant was the first step for what we envision: a Black Arts District in the West End that functions as more than just a physical space, but will be the cultural movement our city deserves.
One of the first questions when I introduced this idea to our community members was, “What does building a Black Arts District have to do with The 1619 Project?” We used the opportunity to explain the role we see art playing in preserving history.
In Kentucky, Black history is being erased and teachers are being penalized for bringing it into the classroom. There was legislation introduced to ban Black history or to fine teachers in school districts for teaching any sort of cultural studies. Our mission to protect Black history in our community is aligned with The 1619 Project’s objectives. The support of The 1619 Project resources allowed us to demonstrate the urgency of our work and give our families a more robust and historically accurate academic experience. The 1619 Project helped to keep our work alive.
The Pulitzer Center was one of our critical funders for the project. The Impact Grant was almost like a pre-development grant, allowing us to lay the groundwork by engaging the community and building the right team. Organizations are often focused on the big, public-facing end products, and not the people reached or the process. We were able to test our concept and build support that made the final result much stronger. We focused on learning, educating, and building something sustainable. This partnership also gave us credibility when we pitched the initiative to community partners in the beginning. They recognized and trusted The 1619 Project. Our alignment helped the community see our team as more serious, prepared, and capable.
We impacted over 5,000 people through our initiative events, which included a kickoff event at the Speed Art Museum (700), a professional development series for educators (2,000), community walks (800), our Black Future Fest event (500), and an art activation titled Artists and Afros (1,000). Our kickoff events were intergenerational with students, elders, and everyone in between. We had folks come from the West End of Louisville and beyond in order to celebrate Black history. Through that outreach, we were able to reach teachers to train. The educators reached through our professional development series included full-time teachers in the Jefferson County public school system, Sunday School teachers, and even parents who homeschool their children.
Throughout the initiative, we collaborated with over 50 organizations. Our work included going into churches and community centers, and having folks meet us at the library so that anyone who was willing could access this training. We incorporated lesson plans and curricular resources from the 1619 Education website. The curriculum and resource guides were absolutely critical. Our facilitators’ feedback was positive across the board when it came to the education materials—especially the deep dives into case law from the 1619 Law School Initiative. The legal resources informed our focus on protecting Black history, and our discussions on the importance of intellectual property.
I don’t think we would have been able to have that depth of engagement without The 1619 Project. We even had middle school students engaging with this college-level work and writing their own articles about intellectual property rights to present at the state Capitol, where they advocated for the protection of Black history. We used the artwork within The 1619 Project to make the curriculum less intimidating.
In all of our work, we were committed to challenging traditional white supremacist notions of art and culture by offering a space for Black creatives to express themselves authentically. By curating exhibitions, performances, workshops, and educational experiences in the tradition of bell hooks and Paulo Friere, these initiatives helped to educate the community and improve our quality of life. We heard in community pre-survey feedback that community members felt the worst thing about the education system was the absence of opportunities to learn a full history that included people who looked like them. This was the case across multiple generations.
During our Artists and Afros event, we made a space where Black artists were able to share their work and have a room full of pictures of people who looked like our students—whether they were lighter or darker, and whether they had dreads, an Afro, or weave. Everyone saw artwork that looked like them and connected to themes about protecting Black history. The artists in the activation made over $50,000 in one weekend, where many had not been able to afford to show their artwork in more traditional spaces. The event made art a lot more accessible to the community.
We did have a challenge with one aspect of the initiative: a mural project we hoped would be a culmination of the work. The organization that had initially agreed to let the students paint a mural on their building's walls became hesitant once it received the student sketches. We were told the organization felt the sketches were too political and too controversial, but we knew these were just images of elders with some African symbols.
The student-designed mural didn't even have words. We didn't want to take away the students’ agency by asking them to change their artwork to be less Black or “controversial,” so we decided to seek a different partnership. Though it shifted our timeline, we were able to find a new partner for the mural. They agreed before even reviewing the sketches and allowed our students the opportunity to present their ideas and artwork. They said yes to the student pitch and told us that we could use free space in their building to teach these classes. Our challenge was a blessing in disguise.
One of the most surprising, but energizing, aspects of this project has been the overwhelming positive response from our community. We were able to prioritize community agency and safety without being punitive. Our participants gave us great feedback about feeling valued and respected.
We are not letting this early success go to our heads. There is always room for improvement, and we’re committed to honoring our community. In the future, we could explore innovative ways to incorporate technology to enhance the visitor experience at events. Additionally, expanding partnerships with local businesses and institutions can help to further solidify the Black Arts District's impact. We’ve learned that building strong partnerships, leveraging community resources, and staying persistent allow us to overcome obstacles and see success.
To anyone out there trying to start an initiative like ours, my best advice is get some good rest and keep encouraging people around you. Consider how Black leaders like Ella Baker and Ida B. Wells dealt with all they had to overcome to educate our people. I feel like this project, in their legacy, would have made my mother proud.
I am thankful to everyone at The 1619 Project and the Pulitzer Center for the resources and this opportunity, and I know a lot of people in our community are as well. They described the Project and the experience as groundbreaking and beautiful.
