LEVI: LIFT EVERY VOICE INITIATIVE

Cooperative Endeavors to Increase Diversity & Inclusion in the Arts

In 2020, NCLAC added its voice to the Black Lives Matter movement, protesting injustices against people of color and calling for the end to systemic racism. NCLAC’s board signed their names to an inclusion and diversity statement attesting to a commitment to “increase the access and impact of under-represented communities.” To honor equity, NCLAC has created a programmatic series that celebrates the artistic pursuits of BIPOC.

The Lift Every Voice series planned for 2022 acknowledges the contributions of Black members of our community and collaborates with unique voices to listen and learn from their experiences. The title is based on the Black National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” as well as an affirmation of our own commitment to amplify the voices of Black creatives. The series features live music, a theater performance, a new outdoor mural, and an independent film screening.

On Inclusion and Diversity

We are a diverse organization that cares deeply about using the arts to foster unique voices. We hope programming like this will amplify the voices of black artists, musicians, writers, and performers. We will continue to be inclusive of people of color and to increase the access and impact of under-represented communities. We are committed to living our organizational values of integrity, honesty, accountability, mutual respect, and caring to ensure that they are not just words. We are committed to open and transparent dialogue with all community partners. We are committed to building progressive communities devoid of prejudice, racism, and bigotry by removing barriers that hinder people from fully participating in society.

Greenwood PArk mURAL

1306 Cornell Ave, Greenwood Park | Completion: Fall 2022

The mural will be created in collaboration with artist Vitus Shell, Drek Davis, area youth, Alderman Angela Mayfield, Grambling University Students, and Greenwood Terrace community members to tell the story of the Greenwood neighborhood, bringing people together, bring public art into an underserved community, and show the value of a shared community space that is open and welcome to all. Join us as we unveil the mural and present a documentary-like film made by Mike LeBlanc of the mural work!

The lead artist on the Lift Every Voice Mural is Vitus Shell. Shell is a native of northeast Louisiana. Shell lives and works in Monroe, Louisiana. He has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Memphis College of art and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Mississippi in Oxford. He has exhibited at the Masur Museum of Art, Soo Visual Arts Center, Hilliard University Art Museum, The McKenna Museum of African American Art, painted a mural for the National Civil Rights Museum's NBA Pioneers exhibit, and was commissioned for a public art piece by the Memphis UrbanArt Commission.

Joining Shell is collaborator Drek Davis, Visual and Performing Arts Department Chair at Grambling State University. Davis has a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Georgia in Athens. His art forms include collage, sculpture and photography. Among his many achievements, Davis has exhibited at the Masur Museum of Art, Artspace in Shreveport, Lyndon House Arts Center in Athens, Meadows Museum of Art at Centenary College, Dunbar Gallery at Grambling State University, and the Rialto Arts Center in West Monroe.

NCLAC would like to thank Weyerhaeuser and Walmart for supporting this project through their community Giving Fund and Community Grants programs, the Louisiana Office of Cultural Development, for sponsoring the mural through an LDOA LA Project Grant, the City of Ruston for allowing the mural to be painting on the Blue Gym, and for the Housing Authority staff that has helped us work in and around the building.