Art blooms amid Ekua Holmes’ busy pandemic schedule
By Jed Gottlieb – Boston Herald
Ekua Holmes, founder and director of the Great Black Art Collection. Photo courtesy Ekua Holmes
“Working from home sounds nice, cozy and relaxed doesn’t it?” Ekua Holmes asked. “But for the past three months, work has been intense, and overflowing.”
A native of Roxbury and a Massachusetts College of Art and Design graduate, Holmes has spent her career sustaining contemporary black art traditions. Growing up, Holmes saw an absence of positive black images and set about changing that. She founded and directs the Great Black Art Collection, which provides a platform for emerging artists while introducing black art to new audiences. Holmes’ own work has been exhibited across the state from the Boston Medical Center to the Boston Arts Academy to the Museum of the National Center of Afro American Artists.
“The events of the past few weeks have been draining and painful,” said Holmes, who is also the assistant director of MassArt’s Center for Art and Community Partnerships. “They have also been exhilarating and hopeful. Add to that all of the uncertainty for the fall semester and it’s time for a nap and a margarita.”
But Holmes hasn’t been napping. As part of our ongoing series about what arts leaders are doing now (check bostonherald.com/entertainment to read installments featuring composers, choreographers, curators and more), Holmes talks about her work and passions.
The Roxbury Sunflower Project
In its third year, the project aims to position the radiant, resilient and deeply rooted sunflower as an emblem for Roxbury. “So far over 15,000 free seeds have been distributed to individuals and organizations around the city who are willing to plant and nurture these beautiful flowers,” Holmes said. “Now, more than ever, we need the healing that comes from the beauty of nature, the power of collective visions and the joy that comes from working together.” Have seeds mailed to you by going to bit.ly/roxburysunflowerproject.
Sunflowers in the city. Getty Images
Art in public
Sparc! — MassArt’s ArtMobile — has shifted its work from in-person paint nights and teen art workshops to finding and distributing art supplies to Boston kids. And now, since MassArt students are no longer on campus, Holmes and a team of two are running the ArtMobile while they rethink what it means to “ignite art and design in the neighborhood,” she said.
Meanwhile, as vice chair of the Boston Art Commission, Holmes has been engaged in the current debate over problematic sculptures.
“The Christopher Columbus statue from the North End was recently beheaded and is off for storage and repair,” she said. “There are calls to remove it permanently, calls to return it. There is a petition to remove the Freedman’s Memorial on Park Square permanently and other suggestions about where to house it. Two-hour meetings have turned to three hours, monthly meetings to weekly ones. For me, the pandemic has not been a slowing down by any means.”
BOSTON MA. JUNE 10: A damaged Christopher Columbus statue on June 10, 2020 in Boston, MA. (Staff Photo By Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
Personal time split between bits of calm and more work
Holmes is currently illustrating a children’s book about Kahlil Gibran, the Lebanese poet and artist who wrote “The Prophet.” “Reading about his experiences in Boston as an immigrant is another reminder of how prevalent bigotry and prejudice are,” she said. “For those few moments of relaxation I find, I have been planting sunflowers, sitting in the yard listening to music and writing haikus. … Sometimes I just sit in my studio and send out blessings, courage and positive energy to my family, friends and colleagues around the world, to the world itself.”
Originally published in the Boston Herald