LEE PRICE WITH HIS ART PIECE, “AHMAD JAMAL’S DREAM.” IT TOOK FIRST-PLACE HONORS. (PHOTO BY J.L. MARTELLO)
Ask the artists, and they’ll tell you that a “Just Pittsburgh” is a place where a Black man can thrive and live, being able to express who you are without fear or judgment from others, everybody listening to each other, and everyone co-existing and starting conversations that people were previously too scared to start.
But in true artist fashion, rather than “tell” you, they’d rather “show” you.
ARTIST AWARDEES IFEOMA (SASHA IGWE), CERRINA HAGOOD, LEE PRICE (PHOTOS BY J.L. MARTELLO)
If you missed the “Envisioning A Just Pittsburgh” art showcase at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, you missed a collection of artists, a number of whom were Black, expressing through the paintbrush, through poetry or through performance what a “Just Pittsburgh” looks like in 2024.
About 200 people came to the Feb. 2 event at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, where the Art of the Diorama, or the Hall of African Wildlife, usually are the focus.
GINA WINSTEAD, VICE PRESIDENT, IDEA, AT THE CARNEGIE MUSEUMS OF PITTSBURGH
The “idea” for this type of showcase came from the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh’s new “IDEA” department. IDEA stands for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility. Gina Winstead, a 2022 New Pittsburgh Courier Fab 40 honoree, is the vice president of the new IDEA department, and she said that growing up in McKeesport, combined with her natural tenacity, were the needed components to make something like the art showcase happen.
“There’s always just something in me that wants to keep trying to make things happen in spaces and places where I’ve been told that we can’t make them happen,” Winstead, who graduated from McKeesport Area High School in 2001 and the University of Pittsburgh in 2005, told the Courier in an exclusive interview. Oftentimes, in the museum space and in large institutions like universities, things can move at a snail’s pace. Winstead, who formerly worked for smaller nonprofits, thought of the “Envisioning A Just Pittsburgh” art showcase in January 2023. To have it happen 13 months later is very fast for a museum event, which usually takes years to cultivate.
“It’s been a part of my story,” Winstead said. “If I hear ‘no,’ I ask, ‘why,’ and if that ‘why’ doesn’t make sense to me, then I want to figure out a solution that works for all of us moving forward.”
FAMILY AND FRIENDS WITH LEE PRICE
By February 2023, the IDEA team began working on building partner ships with different organizations such as the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, 1 Hood Media and the August Wilson African American Cultural Center, to help reach out to local and regional artists, with a specific focus on Black artists and other minorities.
On Juneteenth of 2023 (Monday, June 19), the official “call” for art was made to the public, and was open for about 90 days.
THE HAGOOD FAMILY WITH GINA WINSTEAD
Winstead said the expectation was that 150 people would come to the Feb. 2 event. Turns out, they needed to add some more seats, as attendees saw the artistry on display put into three categories—visual art, literary art, and performance art.
ALFONZO SLOAN WITH HIS ARTWORK
There were first- and second-place awards given out, too. Lee Price won the first-place award for visual art with his piece, “Ahmad Jamal’s Dream.” The second-place award went to an artist known as Ifeoma (Sasha Igwe) for her piece, “A World Reconciled.” The literary art first-place award went to Emily Carlson for “Dear Mrs. Harring,” and second-place went to Kandala Singh for “Alien in America.” In performance art, first-place went to the Mita Ghosal Dance Theatre (“Lost on a Loom: Jute”) and second-place went to Domenique Ross (“Alchemist”). Cerrina Hagood won first-place in Interdisciplinary Art for “Fear,” while second-place went to Hannah Colen (art) and Shatha Alawwad (poetry) for “Dysphoria Blues.” Youth winners for visual art were Imaan Sneed (“Dual Identities”) and Madison Shuler (“Gimbiya”), and for literary art, winners were Norah Gruber (“Places I Knew”) and Tobias Roberson (“This is Not a Tragedy!”).
HOPE LEGRANDE, TOBIAS ROBERSON, HONESTY LEGRANDE
Winstead told the Courier her goal of bringing more Black artists into the Carnegie Museums was accomplished, and she sees similar events at the museums in the future.
Much of the artistry on display during the Feb. 2 event stayed on display at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History throughout the month of February.
MORGAN OVERTON
Many of the winning artists had a chance to address the audience during the event, including Ross, the Pittsburgh native who graduated from Pittsburgh CAPA High School and then, Howard University in Washington, D.C., with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Arts.
“To all my fellow artists here, thank you for sharing your magic,” Ross said to the crowd.
And Price was all smiles as he was given his award for “Ahmad Jamal’s Dream,” paying homage to the legendary Pittsburgh pianist, composer and educator. The Uniontown High School graduate who now resides in Penn Hills said his win felt “surreal.”
Judges were particularly impressed with Price’s ability to weave photos that showed the destruction of the Hill District into his depiction of Jamal, who is seen in a yellow sport coat with piano keys to his right.
“It told this really beautiful story of what we can dream and aspire to be,” Winstead, 41, told the Courier of Price’s art piece, “but also how we need to be conscious of how we’re moving in these spaces and be aware of the destruction that we cause while we do that.”
AJANI ZANAYA WITH HER ARTWORK
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