THE DREAMS OF HARRIET TUBMAN/ Rejected Sketch for City of Baltimore/ by Mike Alewitz/ 2000
The Dreams of Harriet Tubman
AgitProp News: 6.17.00
Special Issue: Harriet Tubman: Armed and Dangerous
In This Issue:
1. Harriet Tubman: Armed and Dangerous
2. I Will Not Disarm Harriet Tubman
3. A Rare and Authentic Dialogue
4. What are “The Dreams of Harriet Tubman”
5. Abolitionist’s Rifle Engulfs N.J. Artist in Fray
6. Nothing Will Stop this Historic Endeavor
7. Statement by Baltimore Clayworks
8. Statement by Mike Alewitz
______________________________________
1. Harriet Tubman: Armed and Dangerous
USA Today
Wednesday, June 7
Baltimore – A 25-foot-high ceramic mural of a musket-toting Harriet
Tubman leading slaves to liberation on the Underground Railroad has
upset the group that had planned to display it. Associated Black Charities Inc.
says the piece could be construed as racist and violent. The group asked artist
Mike Alewitz to replace the musket with a staff, but he refused. Tubman, a
Maryland native, is the subject of five Alewitz murals to be installed
throughout the state this summer.
_________________________________________
2. I Will Not Disarm Harriet Tubman
Mural of armed Tubman stirs protest
Artist won’t change piece for black charity
By Jamie Stiehm
Sun Staff
Dispute: Officials of Associated Black Charities Inc., the organization
for which the mural is intended, have asked the artist to replace Harriet
Tubman’s musket with a staff.
– – –
An artist refused yesterday to alter his government-funded mural as he
prepared to meet with members of Associated Black Charities Inc., who
balked at putting it on their building because they believe it paints a
racially loaded portrait of Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad.
Strong emotions were apparent last night over the 25-foot-high ceramic
Mural planned for display this month at Associated’s headquarters at
Cathedral and Chase streets. The work portrays Tubman with a musket, leading
slaves to freedom through a symbolic, parting Red Sea. The images of
whites in the work – they are being tossed into the sea from either a
slave ship or a factory – and Tubman handling a musket set people off,
even before a gathering to discuss the mural last night at the McKim
Center, a former Quaker meeting house on Aisquith Street.
The mural creates a powerful image, but one that could be construed as
racist and condoning violence, say charity directors. It is not
something to display on an outside wall at a time when guns are too
often linked with violence in the black community, charity officials say.
Associated leaders have urged artist Mike Alewitz – chosen in a national
competition sponsored jointly by the White House Millennium Council and
the National Endowment for the Arts – to substitute a peaceful staff for
the musket.
Alewitz likens this to censorship: “I will not disarm Harriet Tubman. I
won’t take [the musket] out of her hands,” he said in a telephone
interview before the meeting.
The 25-by-123-foot mural is designed to be in public view. It has raised
questions about historical truth vs. contemporary perceptions, issues
that separate whites and blacks. Some tried to bridge that gulf at last
night’s meeting.
The community coordinator of the statewide Harriet Tubman mural project
defended the artist’s choice. “[Tubman] did not lead a revolution with a
feather,” said Blaise DePaolo.
A Maryland native who led slaves to freedom, Tubman is the subject of
Five murals to be installed throughout the state this summer, one in her
birthplace, Cambridge.
Through a national Millennial Treasures campaign launched by Hillary
Rodham Clinton, Baltimore Clayworks won a $25,000 grant to develop the
Harriet Tubman motif. The Mount Washington ceramics center chose Alewitz,
who lives in New Jersey, from a national pool of hundreds of artists. He
designed All five murals.
The others are set for display at Magnolia Middle School in Harford
County, a park in Hyattsville in Prince George’s County and the
University of Maryland, Eastern Shore.
If the Associated refuses to take the mural as Alewitz conceived it,
Baltimore Clayworks will find another site for it in the city, said
Deborah Bedwell, the executive director.
Originally published on Jun 6 2000
________________________________________
3. A Rare and Authentic Dialogue
(The first sentence of this letter, where the writer identifies herself
a an African-American, was deleted by the Baltimore Sun.)
After reading Jamie Stiehm’s account of the June 5 community meeting
concerning the mural “The Dreams of Harriet Tubman,” I have to wonder if
the reporter and I attended the same meeting (“Mural of armed Tubman
stirs protest,” June 6).
The meeting provided a forum for the artist, Mike Alewitz, and
representatives from Baltimore Clayworks and the Mid-Atlantic Arts
Foundation to explain the scope of the statewide public art project and
for citizens, community leaders and national experts on Harriet Tubman
to discuss their feelings about the work.
While there was a great deal of discussion about the image of the rifle
In Tubman’s hand, it was neither initiated nor fueled by representatives
of Associated Black Charities Inc. (ABC).
Ms. Stiehm mentioned that the artist is white, but failed to mention
that a white male raised the greatest objections to the gun in the
mural. She neglected to acknowledge that a number of attendees, black
and white, found the rendering to be passive compared with the savage
violence endured by the enslaved.
In short, Ms. Stiehm portrayed the meeting as divided along racial
lines. It certainly was not.
Ms. Stiehm also states that ABC leaders “balked” at having a mural that
“paints a racially loaded portrait of Harriet Tubman and the Underground
Railroad” on their wall and claimed that “an armed depiction of the
Freedom fighter is inappropriate for the building” and that some people
have Urged the artist “to substitute a peaceful staff for the musket.” None
of this Is true.
In fact, ABC leaders pointed out emphatically that they had no desire to
censor the art.
Donna Jones Stanley, ABC’s executive director, stated that people who
Are opposed to the rifle’s presence are angry and more vocal than those
who are not, and that she did not want to place the agency in the position
of defending a mural. She, and members of her staff, attended the meeting
to hear the comments of members of the communities her agency serves.
Also, for the record, Mr. Alewitz was not “chosen in a national
Competition sponsored jointly by the White House Millennium Council and
the National Endowment for the Arts.” And, Clayworks did not win a “$25,000
grant to develop the Harriet Tubman motif through a national Millennial
Treasures program.”
Baltimore Clayworks selected Mr. Alewitz from a pool of artists after it
received an award in recognition of its commitment to community arts
programs.
It is impossible to engage in honest and open discourse about the life
and times of Harriet Tubman without discussing the issues of race,
slavery and racism.
The images in the mural provoked thought, commentary and questions, and
resulted in a rare and authentic dialogue.
The artist’s depiction of Ms. Tubman’s dream touches on issues and
Events that many wish to marginalize or ignore. The discussion served to
open Eyes and minds and hearts, as good art always does.
It’s unfortunate that Ms. Stiehm twisted the spirit of the debate and
misconstrued it as a racially divided meeting.
Jannette J. Witmyer
Baltimore
The writer is a member of the board of Baltimore Clayworks.
Originally published on Jun 14 2000
__________________________________________
4. What are “The Dreams of Harriet Tubman”
The Dreams of Harriet Tubman
The importance of Harriet Tubman’s life lies not in the past, but in the
future. At a time when African-Americans were kept as chattel, when even the
abolitionist forces were riddled with the racism and bigotry of the
time, Harriet Tubman and thousands of anti-slavery activists organized an
effective liberation struggle which divided and conquered the forces of
reaction. Their will to triumph, in the face of tremendous adversity,
is an inspiration for those who struggle for social justice today.
The Dreams of Harriet Tubman will give visual expression to this great
movement, one of the seminal points in American and world history.
Dreams will be a necklace of murals painted across Maryland. They will form
one unified work.
Moses
The murals will be anchored by a dramatic image on a major wall in the
city of Baltimore. This mural will depict Harriet Tubman a she was known:
Moses. Harriet will be shown parting the seas of reaction, as she did in her
life. Her staff is the musket that she carried. The children of Israel are
the slave armies who resisted their bondage and joined the union ranks to
defeat the south.
Among this army will march the freedom fighters of the slave era, like
Sojourner Truth and Robert Gould. But the army will also include those
of more recent times: Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Mumia Abu Jamal and
others. Drowning in the tide will be Pharoahs tribe: the slavers, the
KKK, Nazis backward politicians and the other forces of reaction.
Harriet’s massive skirts will be a quilt of silhouettes formed by
tracing the outlines of visitors to the site, who will climb the lower rungs
of the scaffold and stand against the wall. In this way the living activists
of today will become a part of the mural…literally the body of Harriet
Tubman.
Dreams
Throughout her life, Harriet experienced visions or dreams that inspired
her actions. At the sides of the mural, and in the smaller walls in other
localities will be a series of vignettes based on those visions.
At the Harriet Tubman Park in Cambridge, her birthplace, a monument will
be specifically constructed. The small mural will depict her birth as a
symbolic beginning of the anti-slavery movement as it changed from
heroic acts of individual resistance to a mass struggle of liberation.
All the murals will contain common visual elements meant to weave the
dreams together. Included in this will be ceramic tile elements created by
project volunteers. These tiles will form borders around the painted
images, as well as singular pieces within the painted areas.
The images will depict some of the important chapters of Harriets life:
– Her dreams about the Amistad and Nat Turner slave rebellions, which
inspired the beginnings of the abolitionist struggle
– Experience as a slave and a worker, her work with Frederick Douglass
and other abolitionists who had a deep understanding the class relationships
at play in the war against slavery
– Her success as a builder and conductor of the Underground Railroad
– Collaboration with John Brown and his organization for the raid on
Harpers Ferry, an event which animated the liberation struggle for
decades
to come
– Leadership as a spy, scout and guerilla in the military conquest of
the south, despite the prejudices against her as both an African-American
and a woman
– Early championing of the women’s suffrage movement and participation
in the first wave of American feminism
– Experience as a nurse and educator under radical reconstruction, and
the attempt to hold in check the awakened aspirations of black America
Taken as a whole, The Dreams of Harriet Tubman will provide a glimpse of
the past and a vision for the future. It will look at the Civil War as the
ending of an era and the beginning of the emergence of the United States
as a modern nation. It will register the gains for human rights won with
the suppression of slavery. It will face with honesty the limitations of
that victory and the need to continue the struggle to which Harriet Tubman
dedicated her life.
Mike Alewitz
Muralist
May 1, 2000
______________________________________
4. Abolitionist’s Rifle Engulfs N.J. Artist in Fray
Abolitionist’s rifle engulfs N.J. artist in fray
06/13/00
By John Yocca
STAFF WRITER
Her every step a perilous one, famed abolitionist Harriet Tubman could
afford no slip-ups as she shuttled slaves to freedom through the
Underground Railroad.
Timing was tight, indecision an enemy. When escaped slaves in her care
hesitated on the frightening march to liberation, Tubman, a determined
and gritty former slave herself, coaxed them northward with a loaded
gun.
A century-and-a-half later, New Jersey artist Mike Alewitz chose that
Image of Tubman — a lantern in one hand, a rifle in the other — as the
centerpiece for one of five sprawling ceramic murals he fashioned for
the state of Maryland, Tubman’s birthplace.
For Alewitz, the depiction is appropriate, both historically accurate
And symbolic of the danger Tubman faced as she led more than 300 slaves
out of captivity. But the artist’s creation has been less than well received
by the nonprofit group that was to display the work on an exterior wall in
Baltimore this month.
In a case that pits historical realism against modern sensitivity to the
Gun violence gripping American cities, Associated Black Charities says
it will likely turn down the piece because the weapon in Tubman’s hand
sends the wrong message.
“We feel that in the year 2000, it is inappropriate for a piece of
artwork depicting guns and violence to be displayed on our wall in
Baltimore, which had more than 300 murders last year,” said Donna Jones
Stanley, 44, the group’s executive director. “This is an organization that strengthens
the fabric of the African-American community, and I’m not sure this
depiction helps us as a community to strengthen ourselves.”
Stressing that she is opposed to censorship and that she finds Alewitz’s
work aesthetically moving, Stanley nevertheless said her group must be
careful about what it places on its high-profile building, visible up to
a mile away.
“It is a very prominent building,” Stanley said. “That means we have a
lot of responsibility, and we take that responsibility very seriously.”
Today, the nonprofit’s board of directors will vote on whether to accept
The mural. Stanley said she’s confident the board will back her
recommendation to pass on the work.
That’s fine with Alewitz, 49, an internationally acclaimed, New
Brunswick-based artist who refused a compromise request by Associated
Black Charities to turn the rifle into a less controversial staff.
“They don’t have an objection to Harriet Tubman,” Alewitz said. “They
have an objection to Harriet Tubman with a rifle. It’s like you want to
see wolves in the wild — but without teeth. They can refuse the mural, and
that’s their right. We’ll find another wall.”
The mural, a 25-foot-high, 130-foot-wide tiled mosaic, is one of five
Alewitz created for Baltimore Clayworks, a ceramic arts group that
Funded the venture with a $25,000 grant from the Mid-Atlantic Arts
Foundation. Baltimore Clayworks chose Alewitz from among hundreds of artists across
The country.
All five works feature Tubman, a native of Dorchester County, Md.
Blaise DePaolo, the group’s community programs coordinator, said
Clayworks stands behind Alewitz in the controversy and will find
someplace else to display the mural if it’s turned away.
The mosaic depicts Tubman as Moses parting the sea, an army of liberated
slaves and freedom fighters amassed behind her. On one side of the work,
white figures, representing slave masters, are tossed from a boat in the
roiling water.
Experts call the gun-wielding woman in the mural an accurate representation
of Tubman, the most famous “conductor” on the Underground Railroad,
the network of people committed to help slaves find freedom. Tubman
and others brought escaped slaves from safehouse to safehouse on an
arduous trek north. Many of those stops were in New Jersey, including
Cape May, where Tubman worked in hotels.
The trip was dicey business. If caught, escaped slaves and those who helped
them faced severe punishment, often death.
Taking no chances, Tubman, who escaped slavery at age 29, armed herself
with a pistol. And she wasn’t shy about waving it around to make a point.
“Sometimes she would hold a pistol to the slaves’ heads and say something
like, ‘Dead people don’t tell no tales,’ ” said Kay McElvey, a member of a
research and information team for the Harriet Tubman organization in
Cambridge, Md. “Sometimes she carried rifles as well.”
For Alewitz, the Tubman theme was a natural fit. He’s made a career of
working on behalf of the underdog, the oppressed and the working class.
An ardent opponent of the Vietnam War during the late 1960s and early
1970s, he later focused on labor causes. As the artist in residence for
the New Jersey Industrial Union Council AFL-CIO, he designed signs
and banners
for striking union workers.
Alewitz also serves as artistic director for the Labor, Art and Mural
Project, which is in the process of moving from Rutgers University to
Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Conn.
A 10-year New Jersey resident, Alewitz has traveled around the world to
paint murals, some of them with a decidedly political bent. And while
he’s not one to back down from a confrontation, he’s not ruffled by the
Baltimore flap.
“It’s a work of art. They’re blowing it out of proportion,” he said.
“It’s one person’s expression. You don’t have to agree with it.”
______________________________________
6. Nothing Will Stop this Historic Endeavor
Tubman mural with musket is rejected
Associated Black Charities decides artwork conveys wrong image for
office
————–
By Jamie Stiehm
Sun Staff
Saying it doesn’t reflect their image, the Associated Black Charities
boardunanimously rejected last night a contentious mural of Harriet
Tubman carrying a musket, which was intended for its downtown building at
Cathedral and Chase streets.
Mural artist Mike Alewitz and staffers from Baltimore Clayworks, which
commissioned the work, searched yesterday for “appropriately visible”
sites and walls in the city for the larger-than-life image, which was
originally planned to stand 25 feet tall on a wall facing Meyerhoff
Symphony Hall.
“It needs to be a good public wall,” Alewitz said.
“It’s fine if it’s not a good fit,” Deborah Bedwell, executive director
of Clayworks, said before last night’s vote. Clayworks, a Mount
Washington nonprofit, chose Alewitz to portray the Underground Railroad leader in
five works to be installed in Maryland as part of a Mid-Atlantic Arts
Council project. She said his work centers on social justice themes.
The musket in the mural design stirred an outcry about historical truth
vs. contemporary reality.
Some suggested that Alewitz’s design, showing Tubman holding a musket as
she symbolically parts a Red Sea and leads slaves to freedom, condones
gun violence.
The issue triggered debate about whether it was appropriate for
Associated Black Charities’ public wall in a city that records at least
300 homicides a year.
“It has started the community discussing slavery, race and history,”
said Donna Jones Stanley, the Associated executive director, who
recommended against Alewitz’s design.
Since 1985, the Associated has been a leading presence in the black
community, giving nearly $6 million in grants to programs benefiting the
greater Baltimore area.
It is agreed Tubman carried a gun for protection, but Stanley declared,
“It is not historically correct. She carried a pistol, not a rifle. It’s his vision, but it’s our wall.”
A few urged Alewitz to substitute a staff for the musket. He refused
last week, saying, “I will not disarm Harriet Tubman. … there was
nothing safe about her.” Phillip Sterling and Rayford Logan wrote in “Four
Took Freedom” that Tubman made 11 trips from Maryland to Canada from 1852 to
1857, leadingabout 300 to freedom. “Her most famous trip concerned a
passenger who panicked and wanted to turn back. Tubman was afraid if he left he would
tortured and would tell all he knew. The unwilling passenger changed his
mind when Tubman pointed a gun at his head and said ‘dead folks tell no
tales.'”
Said Alewitz: “Nothing will stop this historic endeavor. Harriet Tubman
will live on the walls of Maryland.”
______________________________________
7. Statement by Baltimore Clayworks
To: Baltimore Clayworks’ friends, members of the Board of Directors,
Millennium Honorary Committee Members, interested members of the broader
community
From: Baltimore Clayworks – June 14, 2000
Re: The Dreams of Harriet Tubman mural project, and specifically Moses,
the mural sketch originally proposed for the side wall of Associated Black
Charities
…………………….
Baltimore Clayworks was chosen to receive an Artist and Communities
grant from the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation because the foundation’s selection
panel felt that Clayworks’ history of involvement in bringing arts
activities into underserved communities, and of connecting artists with
community residents who have had little or no access to artmaking,
embodied the goals of the national Artists and Communities initiative.
Baltimore Clayworks’ artistic leadership chose artist Mike Alewitz from
a preselected pool of more than 100 visual artists for three reasons:
· Alewitz’ painting as represented in 10 slides of previous work,
was of an extraordinary artistic quality
· Alewitz has had a highly respected history, internationally, of
interactive mural making with ethnically diverse community residents
including youth, working people and elders who have had little or no
access
to the arts
· Alewitz’ themes of equality and social justice echoed
Clayworks’values as it approaches communities for arts partnerships.
It is important to understand that the discussion that the community is
having about the image of an armed Harriet Tubman is simply a discussion
about a proposed piece of public art, and whether an historically
accurate image of Tubman as a leader of her people out of the land of bondage
(Moses) should be displayed in light of contemporary public sensitivities about
gun violence. There are no divisions along racial lines; there are opinions
on both sides. The artist has prepared a statement concerning the mural and
its content. Please request it for in-depth reference.
Furthermore, it is important to understand that there are four more
murals planned for sites in Maryland, and hundreds of at-risk young people
working in paint and clay to create elements to be included in the murals.
The leadership position of Baltimore Clayworks is this: Baltimore
Clayworks stands true to its mission of artist- centeredness and support; we will
not tell any artist what to create or what to change. We respect, however,
the decision of any community organization or institution to decline
partnership in any project or program we propose. We expect a level of passion and
commitment to positive artist/community involvement from our partners.
John K. Smith, Chairman, Board of Trustees
Deborah Bedwell, Executive Director
_______________________________________________
8. Statement by Mike Alewitz
For Immediate Release:
The following statement was issued on June 14, 2000, by Mike Alewitz,
muralist and creator of “The Dreams of Harriet Tubman.”
“Harriet Tubman was a fierce opponent of slavery in all it’s forms. She
was opposed by the southern slave-master and northern industrialist alike.
She was an organizer, educator, leader of the abolitionist movement,
feminist, conductor on the underground railroad and armed insurrectionist
against slavery.
Then, as now, Harriet was feared not because she carried a gun, but
because she organized a mass, militant and uncompromising struggle for
social justice.
There are those who would like to transform Harriet Tubman into a safe
and acceptable icon for corporate America. They wish to disarm her both
physically and politically. I will not help them. I will not disarm Harriet Tubman.
Harriet Tubman does not belong to any individual or group. She is a
figure of international stature. She belongs to working people throughout
the world. Harriet Tubman’s life, the war to end slavery, and the
continuation of that struggle today, deserves to be portrayed in murals,
poems and songs by many artists.
The spirit of Harriet Tubman lives on today, with the students
protesting the World Trade Organizations economic policies, in the prison
cell of Mumia Abu Jamal and other victims of racist injustice, in the strikes and
struggles of working people.
We intend to go forward and put Harriet Tubman on the walls of Maryland.
We intend to continue to educate and inform about her life, not as a matter
of historical record, but because she is an inspiring example for working
people today.
We appeal to the people of Maryland to provide us with the
walls to do this.”
Mike Alewitz is the Artistic Director of the Labor Art & Mural Project
(LAMP). He is Asst. Professor of Art at Central Connecticut State
University, and the author, with Paul Buhle, of the forthcoming book:
“Insurgent Images: the Agitprop Murals of Mike Alewitz,” Monthly Review
Press, NY.
Please Post and Distribute:
LaBOR aRT & MuRAL PRoJECT
AGITPROP NEWS: 7.27.00
Special Harriet Tubman – Homeless in Baltimore Issue
In this issue:
1. Harriet Tubman Mural Defaced
2. Vandals Were Created by a Racist Society
3. Harriet Visits the Visionary Museum
4. Baltimore: Give a Wall
5. Art Should Be the Freedom to Create
6. Joint Letter from Associated Black Charities, Clayworks and Mike Alewitz
7. Reader Feedback on Tubman Mural Controversy
____________________________________
1. Harriet Tubman Mural Defaced
Tubman mural defaced at Harford County middle school
Racial epithets and swastikas found on mural depicting Underground Railroad
leader
—————————————————–
By Daniel Cusick
Associated Press
BALTIMORE–A mural of Harriet Tubman, who led slaves to freedom before the
Civil War, has been defaced with racial epithets and swastikas at a suburban
middle school in Harford County, officials said Thursday.
The painting on the facade of Magnolia Middle School, one of five works of
Tubman commissioned for public buildings around the state, was covered with
spray-painted epithets.
Don Morrison, director of public affairs for the Harford County School
System, said a custodian discovered the defaced mural about 5:30 a.m.
Thursday. The painting covers an 18-foot by 50-foot wall on the front of the
school building.
The Harford County Sheriff’s Department was investigating the incident as a
possible hate crime. “Sometimes, it’s hard to tell whether someone is acting
out of maliciousness or out of hate. But given the nature of the defacing,
we clearly feel that the remarks were inflammatory, and therefore, are
investigating it as a hate crime,” said spokesman Lt. Ed Hopkins. He said
authorities have no suspects. Officers were immediately dispatched to canvas
the area.
The mural, by artist Mike Alewitz, depicted the founder of the Underground
Railroad inside a computer terminal screen, her hands outstretched across
the pages of a book. The central image is surrounded by a swirling red sea,
depicting Tubman’s similarity to the biblical figure Moses, who lead the
Israelites out of slavery in Egypt by parting the Red Sea.
“It wasn’t finished, but they may have thought it was,” said Alewitz, who
has been working on the mural since early July.
Enrollment at Magnolia Middle School–which teaches grades 6, 7 and 8–is
864. Twenty-five percent of its students are black. The surrounding
neighborhood is closer to 50 percent black, Morrison said. The town is about
20 miles northeast of Baltimore.
Officials said the mural would be repaired, probably by painting over the
defaced portions.
Alewitz said this was not the first setback he has faced since he began work
on a series of five murals–called “The Dreams of Harriet Tubman”–to be
installed in Maryland as part of a Mid-Atlantic Arts Council project.
Another mural by Alewitz sparked controversy last month because of its
depiction of Tubman carrying a musket. The ceramic mural was to have been
displayed outside the Baltimore headquarters of the Associated Black
Charities. The group rejected the mural, however, as historically inaccurate
and condoning gun violence.
Alewitz, who teaches at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain,
Conn., and Baltimore Clayworks, which commissioned the work, said they
intended to search for “appropriately visible” sites in the city to hang the
work.
07/20/2000
____________________________________
2. Vandals Were Created by a Racist Society
Mural at Magnolia Middle School, Magnolia Maryland, Defaced by Racist
Graffiti
Press Statement by Mike Alewitz, Muralist, 7.18.00
Harriet Tubman was an educator of the first order. She educated thousands
about racism and the evils of slavery. She educated about the rights of
women. She taught about the rights of working people and the elderly.
Education was an important component of her amazing life.
And yet she was illiterate. The slave system from which she escaped was
based on keeping African-Americans ignorant of their own great culture and
history.
Here at the Magnolia Middle School, the workers, administration and faculty
are dedicated to continuing the educational traditions of Harriet Tubman. I
am here to give visual expression to that effort. This mural, part of a
series of murals called “The Dreams of Harriet Tubman,” is entitled
“Education for All.” It is an effort of many individuals and groups,
including the Mid-Atlantic Art Foundation and Baltimore Clayworks.
Slavers and northern industrialists alike feared Harriet. She waged an
uncompromising struggle against slavery, racism and social injustice. The
slave catchers and northern racists could not stop her, and she will
certainly not be stopped by misspelled graffiti from a handful of cowards.
The destruction that you see here cannot be blamed solely on a few racists.
They are products of growing up in a society that too often tolerates racism
– that celebrates the execution of poor black people – that condones
inequality in education and employment.
When these criminals are found, it is my fervent hope they will be sentenced
to join me on the scaffold to help paint this mural. There, we will discuss
and learn about Harriet Tubman, John Brown and Frederick Douglass.
We will examine the great civilizations of Africa that gave so much of
modern civilization to the world, and the history of African-Americans here.
We will look at how the wealth of this country was based on slave labor. And
we will discuss the inequality that exists in society today, what that
means for working people, and how we can organize to change it.
We are going to repair the damage. We are going to complete “The Dreams of
Harriet Tubman.” We will continue to paint murals that illuminate the
historic events of the past and the problems that facing working people
today. We will continue to create a public art and public dialogue that
will inspire the young people of today to follow the example of Harriet
Tubman.
____________________________________
3. Harriet Visits the Visionary Museum
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“DREAMS OF HARRIET TUBMAN” MURALS TO TOUR U.S. AND INTERNATIONALLY
PORTABLE MURAL TO BE PAINTED AT THE AMERICAN VISIONARY ART MUSEUM
Baltimore Clayworks today announced that an important component of the
“Dreams of Harriet Tubman” is to be painted on-site at the American
Visionary Art Museum. Artist Mike Alewitz, author of the work, will paint
the portable work in the sculpture barn of the inner harbor museum.
“Dreams” is a series of public art works being created throughout Maryland,
including at the Harriet Tubman Park in Cambridge, MD, her birthplace; the
Frederick Douglass Library at the University of MD Eastern Shore; the
Magnolia Middle School in Harford County; and other locations. The project
has broad sponsorship from community and arts organizations throughout the
state. It is being hosted by Baltimore Clayworks, a ceramic arts
organization with an extensive record of community involvement.
Alewitz’s image of Tubman has been the subject of some controversy. He
chose to portray Tubman as a militant, armed Moses (she was known as the
Moses of her people) – parting the seas of reaction and leading an army of
freed slaves into the future. The mural also shows representations of a
slave ship, and what Alewitz refers to as “the slave ship of today – the
sweatshop.”
“It will be a great pleasure to work here, surrounded by the fabulous art of
working-class artists. Harriet belongs here – she also had visions, and
like these artists, was not afraid to act on them,” said Alewitz. “The work
we create here will remain true to Harriet and to those who are continuing
her struggle against racism and injustice. Harriet Tubman was an
uncompromising fighter for freedom and social justice – that is how I will
paint her.”
Deborah Bedwell, Executive Director of Baltimore Clayworks, announced that
the group is still seeking a large public wall for a permanent mural.
“Baltimore Clayworks remains committed to support of artists and making art
accessible to the greatest audiences possible. We welcome a lively
discussion of art and it’s place in society.”
____________________________________
4. Baltimore: Give a Wall
———————————-
By Mike Alewitz
Op-Ed Baltimore Sun
THE RACIST defacement of my mural in Harford County has once again put a
spotlight on “The Dreams of Harriet Tubman.” This series of murals, a gift
to the people of Maryland, has generated significant public scrutiny and
debate. As the artist involved, I would like to provide some insight into
this work.
I was invited by Baltimore Clayworks, an artist’s organization with a deep
commitment to community involvement, to create a series of works in
Maryland. I was one of 54 artists selected nationally by the Mid-Atlantic
Arts Foundation as part of its program “Artists and Communities: America
Creates for the Millennium.”
Clayworks and activists from the Underground Railroad movement had been
discussing the possibilities of work about the Underground Railroad and
Harriet Tubman. Their initiative corresponded with my own thinking — that
this subject was an important one and one that was timely.
Harriet Tubman was a revolutionary who not only envisioned the future, but
acted to create that vision.
“The Dreams of Harriet Tubman” was designed to give visual expression to her
visions and to the great revolution that overthrew slavery, one of the
seminal occurrences in American and world history.
“Dreams” will be a necklace of murals painted across Maryland. They will
form one unified work.
The murals are to be anchored by a dramatic image on a major wall in
Baltimore City. It will depict Harriet Tubman as she was known: Moses.
Harriet is shown parting the seas of reaction, as she did in her life. Her
staff is the rifle that she carried. The children of Israel are the slave
armies who resisted their bondage and joined the Union ranks to defeat the
South. Drowning in the tide is Pharaoh’s tribe: the slavers and other forces
of reaction.
Harriet’s massive skirts will be a quilt of silhouettes formed by tracing
the outlines of visitors to the site, who would climb the lower rungs of the
scaffold and stand against the wall. In this way the living activists of
today will become a part of the mural, literally the body of Harriet Tubman.
At the sides of the mural, and in the smaller walls in other localities,
will be a series of vignettes based on Harriet’s visions: Her dreams about
the Amistad and Nat Turner slave rebellions; her work with Frederick
Douglass, John Brown and other abolitionists; her success as a conductor of
the Underground Railroad; leadership as a spy, scout and guerilla in the
military conquest of the South, championing of the women’s suffrage
movement; and experience as a nurse and educator.
When the mural in Harford County was attacked, the leaders of that community
— educators, civil rights, religious and political leaders — immediately
united to repudiate the racists and announce their determination to complete
the mural and continue to teach about Tubman and her movement.
Will the people of Baltimore show the same determination as we continue to
search for an appropriate wall for this work?
The working people of this city have made it clear that they support this
project. But while this backing is good, we still find ourselves seeking a
wall in a prominent location with institutional support.
I believe it is important to complete this artistic and educational project.
The reason is simple:
There will be no justice and there will be no peace in this country until
the United States faces up to this truth: The great wealth of this country
was built on the backs of slave labor. The descendants of those slaves
remain the victims of a vicious racism, unable to enjoy the fruits of what
their ancestors created.
“The Dreams of Harriet Tubman” will be painted — if not in Baltimore, then
elsewhere in Maryland; if not in Maryland, then another state. And if I
cannot find a wall in the United States, then I will go to another country.
But, one way or another, it will be painted.
We are appealing to the people of Baltimore to provide us with a wall. This
is where Harriet belongs — in glorious color — as a symbol of the ongoing
struggle for social justice.
———–
Mike Alewitz is a muralist and is on the art faculty at Central Connecticut
State University in New Britain, Conn. This article was written in
Baltimore.
Originally published on Jul 25 2000
____________________________________
5. Art Should Be the Freedom to Create
He sees the big picture
Murals: The artist tapped for the city’s Harriet Tubman project has made big
depictions of the struggles of the little guy his life’s work.
————————————————————-
By Suzanne Loudermilk
Sun Staff
Often splashed across 50-foot walls in brilliant, hard-to-miss hues, the
paintings of Mike Alewitz are hard to ignore.
But Alewitz, an internationally known artist who has painted murals in
Chernobyl, Baghdad and Central America, wasn’t quite expecting the attention
his Harriet Tubman projects have garnered in Maryland.
The first mural, proposed for the headquarters of the Associated Black
Charities in downtown Baltimore, was rejected by the group last month
because Tubman was depicted with a musket. The second, at a Harford County
middle school, was nearly complete when vandals painted over it last week
with swastikas and racial slurs.
He has three more Tubman works to complete as part of a statewide art
project commissioned by Baltimore Clayworks, a Mount Washington arts center.
The undertaking is part of “Artists and Communities: America Creates for the
Millennium,” an initiative of the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation and the
National Endowment for the Arts.
“This attack [in Harford] and the inability to get a wall in Baltimore has
set the project back,” Alewitz acknowledged last week while trying to repair
the damaged mural at Magnolia Middle School in Joppa. “But I feel I have a
responsibility.”
His sense of social justice started early. “I am a product of my times,”
says Alewitz, 49, who grew up in a working-class environment in Wilmington,
Del., in the 1950s. He was one of three children, and his parents both
worked – his mother as a factory worker and secretary and his father was a
plumber, although he returned to school and received a doctorate in history
when he was in his 60s. Both were involved in labor organizations before he
was born.
Alewitz came of age during the Vietnam War protests and became a student
leader on the campus of Kent State University in the anti-war movement.
“You had to question the war. It was easy. You didn’t want to be killed,” he
says. “Then you had to ask why the U.S. was involved.”
In May 1970, he witnessed the shootings there that left four people dead and
nine injured during a demonstration to protest the U.S. invasion of
Cambodia. “It was horrible, of course,” he said. “A close friend of mine was killed.”
Tom Grace, a union leader who lives in Amherst, N.Y., recalls university
classmate Alewitz from his student activist days. “I remember him as a very
bright, intellectual individual,” says Grace, who observed Alewitz
distributing leaflets around campus and speaking at student rallies. “He was
extremely well-read and a good mobilizer of a large number of students.”
Alewitz didn’t finish college at the time. Later, working as a machinist, he
became increasingly involved in the labor movement. He eventually decided to
express his activism through art, he says. He returned to school in his
mid-30s at the Massachusetts College of Art. Because he had worked as a sign
and billboard painter, he gravitated toward painting murals and never looked
back
Now, Alewitz is teaching a mural painting class at Central Connecticut State
University in New Britain.
He often champions the little guy in his murals. His imagery includes
shackles, bright sunshine, dreamy nights, war-torn countries, immigrant
workers, twinkly stars, downtrodden laborers.
His mural in Chernobyl, painted on the 10th anniversary of the accident at
the Ukrainian nuclear power plant, commemorated the workers who died there.
“I was very struck by the imagery,” says Deborah Bedwell, executive director
of Baltimore Clayworks. “The thing I loved about his works was the way he
illustrates his values, his choice of subject matter and the way he portrays
his subjects.”
Alewitz was chosen from a pool of 200 artists for the Tubman project, she
says. “I’ve learned more than I thought possible about mural painting and
history,” Bedwell says. “Mike has deep political convictions.”
Labor and strife are recurring themes in the murals. A book of his works
titled “Insurgent Images: The Agitprop of Mike Alewitz” is to be published
in the fall. Alewitz calls himself an agitprop artist. He views “agitprop,” a combination
of the words agitation and propaganda, as art used in a utilitarian way.
“I was determined to bring out a book of his works,” says Paul Buhle, a
professor of American civilization at Brown University and labor historian
who is writing the introduction and a historic overview for “Insurgent
Images.” “The issue of public art and its role in American life is very
important.” He points to an Alewitz mural on a Teamsters union building in
Chicago, which shows Albert and Lucy Parsons, early labor organizers. “As a
mural, it’s a way of reminding people of the way amazing things get done.”
Despite the serious topics depicted in many of Alewitz’s works, Buhle
describes the artist as a gregarious man who is usually prepared for a
struggle. “He’s always involved in a controversy,” Buhle says. “Part of his
stance is not only to defy official images by example, but to encourage
other artists also to do this and re-envision history.”
Alewitz’s current works championing the life of Tubman, a former slave who
led other slaves to freedom through the Underground Railroad, reflect his
passion. He says he doesn’t feel compelled to change the proposed mural
showing Tubman with a musket. “Art should be the freedom to create,” he
maintains. “It can’t be decided by committee, only in the heart and mind of
the artist.”
He has painted a smaller, portable version called the “Baltimore Image,”
which is being exhibited at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore.
Next month, he will take the 7-foot-by-20-foot piece to a national
conference at the AME Zion Church in Greensboro, N.C., where Tubman
worshiped in Greensboro, N.C.
“Harriet Tubman was a great revolutionary leader and a leader for all
working people in this country,” Alewitz says. “She was created by a
movement. Ordinary people can do extraordinary things when part of a
movement.”
Originally published on Jul 25 2000
____________________________________
6. Joint Letter from Associated Black Charities, Clayworks and Mike Alewitz
Letter to the Baltimore Sun
Recent articles in the Baltimore Sun and other media have fueled a lively
discussion about a series of murals about Harriet Tubman. Much of this
discourse has been positive, and has led to a broad public education about
Harriet Tubman and the struggle against slavery and racism. Those who favor
genuine democracy always welcome such discussions about art and politics,
however spirited.
A number of misconceptions have arisen about this project, however, which we
would like to clarify.
“The Dreams of Harriet Tubman” is a series of murals to being painted in
different sites throughout Maryland. The conception for this art flows out
of a broad-based discussion among artists and community activists,
particularly in the Underground Railroad movement. The theme was embraced
by Baltimore Clayworks, who is hosting Mike Alewitz, one of 54 artists
selected by “Artists and Communities, America Creates for the Millennium” –
a project of the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation.
A number of walls were considered for a major Baltimore mural. Of those,
Alewitz specifically requested the wall of the Associated Black Charities
(ABC) Building. He did this because he felt it to be a logical home for a
Tubman mural. Harriet Tubman was, among her many other amazing
accomplishments, an extraordinarily charitable woman.
While Associated Black Charities was initially open to considering a mural
through this program, its Board of Directors ultimately decided that the
wanted to use their wall for a piece of art, selected with their
constituents, that more directly relates to their mission and interests.
Clayworks and Alewitz are looking for another permanent space for the mural.
A portable version is currently on exhibit at the American Visionary Art
Museum.
While people may and should debate the imagery or intent of this mural, we
feel it is important to remember that it is a work of art. There is no
“correct” mural – artists all have different approaches, styles, techniques,
etc., based on their experiences, their ethnic backgrounds and a myriad of
other factors.
We want to reaffirm that we support the efforts of Associated Black
Charities, Baltimore Clayworks and individual artists who attempt to use their efforts
to build a better society.
We recognize that Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad represent a
movement of international stature which artists of all ethnic backgrounds
should feel free to interpret. At the same time we understand that the
attempts to destroy the culture of African-Americans, which began with the
slave trade, has not ended. We feel it is critical to break down the many
obstacles placed in the way of Black, Latino and other minority artists.
We look forward to a successful completion of “The Dreams of Harriet
Tubman,” a future mural project at the Associated Black Charities building and any
similar efforts by other groups.
Harriet Tubman was a fearless rebel, a conductor on the Underground RR, an
armed insurrectionist against slavery, a feminist, an abolitionist, a health
care worker, a domestic worker, an advocate for the elderly and an educator.
We join in celebrating her life and accomplishments. By creating works of
art about her, and the movement that molded her, we hope to inspire the
Harriet Tubmans of today to take up her struggle for peace and social
justice.
S/
Donna Jones Stanley
Executive Director,
Associated Black Charities
Mike Alewitz
Muralist
Deborah Bedwell
Executive Director,
Baltimore Clayworks
