Photos by Todd Luck
At left, people who visited the traveling Thankful
Heritage Museum poured over the black news pages
of local newspapers from the 1950s and '60s along
with front pages with headlines about Martin
Luther King Jr.'s funeral and Malcom X's death.
Above are black history posters on display.
Effey Howell owns the
Thankful Heritage
Museum.
Traveling museum showcases African-American memorabilia
On Saturday, Feb. 21 from 4 to 6 p.m., Freedom Tree IDR, formerly The Institute for Dismantling Racism, held a Black History Commemoration and fundraising
event at Parkway United Church of Christ. The Thankful Heritage Museum was there. Thankful Heritage Inc. (THI) is a 501c3 non-profit organization that fea
tures a traveling African-American museum filled with a collection of African-American artifacts dating back to the 1700s. The traveling museum of African
American history was started 21 years ago by Effey Howell (pictured) and has over 1,000 items, some dating as far back as the 1700s. Howell, a 2007 ECHO
award winner for building social capital, regularly does exhibits at schools, churches, community centers and the local Juneteenth celebration.
Park
from page AI
ing there, which in turn
will lead to much more
happening in the area."
It's designed to create
an artful space between the
Innovation Quarter and the
downtown Arts District.
There will be red lines that
will lead visitors into the
park and rise up to create
an option for sculptures to
be displayed.
At the center of the
park, the red lines will
come together into 13
masts that will create fog
formations in an effort to
recognize the city's past in
manufacturing.
"At night it'll be lit up,
and when the fog hits the
light it will look like it's
glowing," Knabb said.
"The fog will become ani
mated."
Montgomery said that
the masts are bound to
attract activity to the area.
"There will be a place
to embrace all facets of art
in the area," he said. "Art is
very much a part of who
we are as a community.
This park is continuing
to show how we integrate
that into the fabric of what
we normally see, like
parks.
When we infuse our
innovation and artistic
sense, we have something
that is unique to our com
munity and attractive to
those near and abroad."
There will also be an art
performance shelter made
out of silver steel bands
and a concrete wall to be
used as an evolving canvas
for painters.
The shelter will have
built-in benches and easels,
as well.
"We'll have 10 mural
artists painting there in the
beginning of May.
We'll leave it up for a
year, paint over it and do it
again with new artists.
We have some of the
best mural artists in the
area, so we are real excited ,
about thiit," Knabb said. '
Local and regional
businesses are building the
park. STITCH Design shop
drew up the plans, architec
ture was done by Stimmel
Associates and the con
struction is being done by
'Trank L. Blum
Construction Co. Knabb
said that he feels the park
will help to infuse more art
into downtown, citing that
it doubles the size of the
arts district.
He said that he would
like to see it used by every
one in the community,
whether it's by pet owners,
nearby children or the resi
dents who live downtown.
"It's going to bring
more range, depth and
interest to the area," he
said. "It's a gift to the com
munity and the city of Arts
and Innovation. I look at it
as a giant piece of art."
1
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Submitted photo
Rendering by STITCH DESIGN
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