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Is life better for an African American artist today living in the Twin Cities than it was twenty or thirty years ago? The answer may surprise you.

Recently I had the pleasure of sitting down with a group of black artists who've all spent much of their careers here in the Twin Cities. There was some pretty powerful energy and talent in the room once all were assembled.

There was musician Douglas Ewart, painter Tacoumba Aiken, spoken word artist Louis Alemayehu, writer Carolyn Holbrook, storyteller Beverly Cottman and artist Seitu Jones. I asked them to share their thoughts on how the Twin Cities arts scene has changed, for good and for bad, and to talk about the particular challenges they face today.

Seitu Jones offered a compelling  look back at the role of African American artists in Minnesota; he says he can trace his own family's history here back to 1879.

Carolyn Holbrook agreed. Holbrook is the founder of SASE: The Write Place, a center dedicated to making the literary arts accessible to a diverse community. She says while many institutions seeking to increase the diversity of their staff focus their efforts on training new hires, they forget that they themselves also need training.

Spoken word artist and performer Louis Alemayehu has spent much of his career immersed in the Black Arts Movement, both in Chicago and in the Twin Cities. He adds that for many African Americans, art is about more than a piece of music or a painting on the wall - it's about how you live in the world, and engage with a community.

Beverly Cottman came to her art relatively late in life, after a career teaching science. As a storyteller she continues to teach, but in this case she's teaching children to find the stories in their own lives. Cottman says while there are now more opportunities for artists to collaborate, she agrees with Alemayehu's assessment:

Painter Ta-coumba Aiken recounted how sometimes this disconnect between institutions and artists can lead to misunderstandings or even conflict. When offered a solo show at a local institution, he said instead he'd like to invite five artist friends to join him. The museum curators were confused that he wouldn't want to have the show to himself. Similarly, people question his creating murals with schoolchildren.

Musician and teacher Douglas Ewart says what concerns him most right now is the continuing influence of racism, from its thinly veiled presence in the current political debate, to its more subtle existence in cultural institutions:

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Marianne Combs

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Is life better for an African American artist today living in the Twin Cities than it was twenty or thirty years ago? The answer may surprise you.


How the Twin Cities have changed – and not changed – for African American artists

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