project overview
Dunbar Elementary | Orange Mound
Artist: Desmond Lewis
project description
“the need to recognize....the important hand that the children of Dunbar have in becoming the next leaders of Orange Mound”
UAC and the City of Memphis commissioned Memphis artist, Desmond Lewis, to create a public art project in the Orange Mound community at Dunbar Elementary and Orange Mound Park. The project includes seating at Dunbar Elementary and a series of sculptures at Orange Mound Park honoring the history of the Orange Mound Community.
Lewis’s concept for the project “stems from the need to recognize the rich culture of the Orange Mound Community as well as acknowledging the important hand that the children of Dunbar Elementary have in becoming the next leaders of Orange Mound, the city of Memphis, the United States, and Our World.“
Lewis will begin an extensive period of community engagement in October 2018 with Orange Mound residents, community organizations, and students at Dunbar Elementary.
The project is funded through City of Memphis’ percent-for-art program in partnership with UAC to create public art projects across Memphis neighborhoods.
about the artist
Desmond Lewis is a sculptor who was born and raised in Nashville, TN. Lewis received his AA from Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington, MA in 2012, BS from Tennessee State University in Nashville, TN in 2014, and MFA from The University of Memphis in 2017. Selected group exhibitions include Current Collapse at Ruddell Gallery in 2017 in Spearfish, SD, Price is Right at David Lusk Gallery in 2017 in Memphis, TN, Equality Matters at Mildred Cox Gallery in 2017 in Fulton, MO, and The Collective Presents: Liberation at the Clough-Hanson Gallery at Rhodes College in 2018 in Memphis, TN. His residencies include the Pittsburgh Glass Center (2018), Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2018), Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (2017), and the Vermont Carving and Sculpture Center (2016). Desmond most recently exhibited at Crosstown Arts from February-March of 2019, presented by Seed Space + Delta Axis.
Desmond is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Ceramics at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN. His studio is based in Memphis, TN.
selection committee
LueElla Marshall - Orange Mound Arts Council
Joyce Dorse-Coleman - Orange Mound Arts Council
Matthew Pitts - City of Memphis Traffic Engineering
Kelly Hatton - Shelby County Schools
Quinn McGowan - Artist
Gerard Harris - Artist
Deepti Deshpande - Self + Tucker Architects
Elizabeth Thompson-Bringle - City of Memphis Engineering (non-voting)
