Greenwood Art Project Unveiled, Designed To Spark Community Conversations

Greenwood Art Project Unveiled, Designed To Spark Community Conversations

The Greenwood Art Project has been unveiled, just days before the 100-year anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre.

The Mayor gave the Keys to the City to lead artists Rick Lowe and William Cordova for the countless hours they have spent making this possible for the community.  

The Greenwood Art Project is a culmination of work from dozens of artists and teams of people from all over the country - and it happened in the middle of a pandemic. Wednesday was the unveiling of the Greenwood Art Project.

"We had the opportunity to go around this morning and see a number of the installations that have been done by remarkable artists here in our community, all over the city," said Tulsa Mayor GT Bynum. 

The ceremony was held on the "steps to nowhere" near MLK and Haskell, kicking off days of art installations, exhibitions, performances and short films.

"When I started talking to people here in Tulsa, I realized that this is not ready to be memorialized in a monument yet. This needs to happen in conversation. This community needs to have this conversation," said Lowe. 

Each piece in the project, supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies and the George Kaiser Family Foundation, is designed to start conversations.

"By this community having the conversation, it can work towards setting the tone for the rest of the nation," said Rick. 

The Greenwood Art Project website sums up their mission "to create art that activates the community towards healing from our history, rebuilding, and re-cultivating Greenwood Avenue in the most beautiful and authentic way."

"Art is the highest level of education," said Senator Kevin Matthews. 

Each day sections of the project – galleries, exhibits and sculptures - will come up around the city. There is a map and event schedule, with times for each day here.

To read more about the Poster Project, click here.

To read more about the $1 million award given to the Greenwood Art Project, click here.

Photo cred: This Car Up - Credit Ari Christopher and Tulsa Modern Movement