JXTA: Developing A Creative Pipeline of And For The Community

Last week, I teamed up with my friends at Pollen to help with a photo essay on Juxtaposition Arts (JXTA), an education program, teen-staffed design enterprise and locally rooted cultural development center founded in 1995. One of its kind in the region, the organization is best known for its grassroots approach to community collaborations, studio classes and workshops, public mural programs, and art exhibitions. From "Encouraging conflict to foster innovation, Believing success lives in your community, not outside," JXTA has truly created a household name for itself in the lives of Northside residents from dedicating generations of skill, creativity and resilience by investing in young people to change the world.

Here's an excerpt from their story on using disruption to drive innovation, words by Maya Beck:

"JTXA goes to the community instead of asking the community to come to it, inviting residents and business owners to influence its creative work. For its collaborative project “ReMix: Creating Places for People on West Broadway,” JXTA sent its young artists out with urban planning students to interview pedestrians on sidewalks, at bus stops and in other everyday spaces. They spent hundreds of hours on the street, engaging community members and listening to suggestions and complaints.

Where the community said the streets were poorly lit and uninviting, JXTA built light pole banners and other colorful arts interventions. It also built sculptural benches at high-traffic bus stops in response to the desires of busy parents with kids, groceries and tired legs. Everything JXTA does comes from listening to the community."

Read the full story on Pollen and check out my favorite shots from the day below:

My images from this past year's Open Streets Minneapolis held on West Broadway were featured in the profile as well:

"I fully believe art, creativity and culture is where you ARE, not hidden away in a museum far away." 

-DeAnna Cummings

Black Magik Woman III @ MN Fashion Week S/S '17

This past week, I had the privilege to collaborate with an incredible group of woman artists here in Minnesota for Black Magik Woman, an annual all female art showcase featured during Minnesota's Spring/Summer Fashion Week. Through collaborative images and art pieces, visual artists are paired with "muses" to create and install original artworks that "bring positivity to the view of the female form". My partner, Steph Guidera, an oil painter, and I collaborated on "Truth Be Told," a portrait series on confronting the white male gaze. Through the power of context provided by women creators, the project was to portray historically marginalized subjects with the regality and traditional aesthetics, but not traditional approach, to portrait art. From a series of images I made with our two muses, Vilay and Sierra, Steph painted two portraits that resembled 19th century Daguerreotypes, and thereafter I printed and mounted two other images that provided environmental context for their postures and expressions. We reasoned that the art world expects female subjects to either be overtly sexual or fragile, both played out cliches that don't speak to the modern women. Ultimately, our goal was to address the static ideas of the female form in portraiture that removes any humanizing qualities that give a subject enough agency to enforce their individual personality. 

To view the rest of the project, click here. To see a recap of the evening, check out polaroids captured by photographer Patience Zalanga below:

Inquilanxs Unidxs

In partnership with the McKnight Foundation, I was commissioned by Pollen to accompany a writer to photo-document a meeting held by Inquilanxs Unidx for a story about how renters and communities can come together and improve affordable housing options. The grassroots initiative's mission is "to bring groups of tenants in Minneapolis’ worst housing together in order to analyze problems occurring in their living situations, and then strategize and organize around those problems to create affordable, dignified living spaces in Minneapolis." The evening's meeting was spent discussing their platform for policy change in the city with tenants. 

Check out some of my favorite moments below:

Nick Jordan

Last month, I photographed Minneapolis-based music artist Nick Jordan for press and promotional images. Check out my top 5 favorite frames from our studio session below!

WERK IT: Showcasing That Hustle by Pollen & Impact Hub MSP

Last month, Pollen and Impact Hub hosted Werk It! at Muse Event Center in North Loop, Minneapolis. 

Werk It: Showcasing That Hustle featured a runway show of 30 of MSP’s most innovative and inspiring social entrepreneurs in food & health, technology, energy & environment, community building, creativity, and youth services, styled by local artrepreneurs. Each entrepreneur walked down a runway while the host spoke about their work and contribution to the MSP business community. New Rules was featured and Chris Webley, CEO and co-founder, walked to represent our team. Here are some BTS photos & GIFs I made throughout the evening:

Fin.