COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) - Advocacy Through Art debuted an Art Container on the Liberty Theatre lawn. The container features two vibrant murals by artist, Jeremy McCrary, and Columbus State University students. There is also an animated video element to the poem "America" by Claude McKay, created by Demetrius Dukes and Brad Lewter.
One mural features a picture of Trayvon Martin covering half of Martin Luther King's face with colorful shapes and figures in the back. The colorful paint is to represent the pack of skittles that McCrary says Martin is remembered by.
The other side of the container is a Rosa Parks mural that featured colorful figures marching with picket signs. CSU students said the two different sides represent the social justice fight of the past, present and future.
McCrary shared why he chose Trayvon Martin's story as the focus and inspiration for one of these murals.
"He brought me back to life and he made me feel that, that could have been me, you know what I'm saying and so I use his piece, I use his face to show the community that it could have been anyone," said McCrary. "And by overlapping Martin Luther King's face as you see here, it just preaches an ongoing continuous fight that we are trying to reach."
Dukes explained the animation in the video changes as it continues to walk to represent a wide range of African American males. He also expressed how important the tone of voice in which he recorded the poem was imperative to how the project was perceived.
"I wanted to capture sort of the boldness, but at the same time, a lot of the uncertainty, a lot of the, in some cases, a lot of the fear, a lot of the hope, you know to start a conversation to acknowledge the injustices that a lot of African American males face in society," said Dukes. "So for me it was just about trying to find that right, that right tone."
The community was invited to the debut of the art container from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m..
The container will be on display on the lawn of the Liberty Theatre for all to see.
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