Art & Ideas Shared at Community Forum

The Judkins Park community enjoyed performances from Thurgood Marshall Elementary students in a packed hall at the Northwest African American Museum last Friday afternoon during a community celebration honoring Justice Marshall. [See the program here.]

Community Art Activity:  "What Thurgood Marshall Means to Us."

The community also shared its ideas for the public youth art project commemorating Justice Marshall that will be installed at the elementary school this summer as part of Coyote Central's Hit the Streets program. [Read our summary of the dialogue here!]

Participants shared ideas through a group discussion and a drawing and writing exercise, entitled "What Thurgood Marshall Means to Us."  The ideas are currently on display at Thurgood Marshall Elementary and will later inform the Hit the Streets artists.



Click on photos to enlarge. (More photos follow.)

Why Thurgood Marshall?

As a lawyer, Thurgood Marshall successfully fought school segregation in the 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education, a major turning point for the civil rights movement.  In 1967 he became the first African-American appointed to the Supreme Court, working to uphold the constitutional rights of all people for 24 years.  He died in 1993.  

While the Judkins Park neighborhood public elementary school has been named for Thurgood Marshall since 1996, members of the community felt we could do more to honor his legacy.  This youth art project with Coyote Central's Hit the Streets program was born.

Thurgood Marshall outside the Supreme Court in 1955, when he was chief counsel for the NAACP. (Photo by Hank Walker – Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)

February 6th - Community Celebration & Forum for Youth Art Project

A special program at Northwest African American Museum (NAAM) on Friday, Feb. 6, will help us learn more about and celebrate the life of Thurgood Marshall, the pioneering Supreme Court Justice and civil rights lawyer, and explore ideas for the planned outdoor youth art project honoring him.

Community Celebration & Forum on Art Project

Friday, February 6, 2015, 4-5:45 pm

Legacy Hall at NAAM 

2300 S. Massachusetts St.

Seattle, 98144

From 4-5 pm, enjoy activities such as performances by students in Grades 2-5, including the Thurgood Marshall Elementary Choir. At 5 pm, a forum will explore everyone’s ideas for the planned outdoor youth art project honoring Justice Marshall, the first African-American on the Supreme Court. He died in 1993, and in 1996, the Seattle School Board voted to name our neighborhood’s school for him.

The artwork will be installed this summer on the east side of the Thurgood Marshall Elementary School campus, near Martin Luther King Jr. Way. Much of the creative process will be in the hands of 24 neighborhood youth, led by a professional artist. The project is funded in part by a $24,300 “Small and Simple” grant from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, and supplemented by Community donations of time and other resources.

What is Friends of Hit the Streets on MLK (FHSMLK)?

Friends of Hit the Streets on MLK (FHSMLK) is a group of people and organizations bringing together the Judkins Park community to create a youth art installation honoring the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.

The artwork will be installed in August 2015 on the east side of the Thurgood Marshall Elementary campus, near Martin Luther King Jr. Way. Much of the creative process will be in the hands of  24 neighborhood youth, led by a professional artist. The project is funded in part by a $24,300 “Small and Simple” grant from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, and supplemented by community donations of time and other resources.

A local youth art organization, Coyote Central, will coordinate the project. Coyote Central’s vision is for Seattle-area adolescents of every background to become creative thinkers and problem-solvers confident in their capabilities and engaged with their community.   If you’re interested in leading the work with youth, watch for the Call for Artists to be posted on Feb. 1 on www.coyotecentral.org. 

If you’re interested in getting involved or have ideas, email FHSMLK@gmail.com.