The work of artist-activist, Charmaine Minniefield preserves Black narratives as a radical act of social justice.


Firmly rooted in womanist social theory and ancestral veneration, the work of Charmaine Minniefield draws from indigenous traditions as seen throughout Africa and the Diaspora to explore African and African-American history, memory, and ritual as an intentional push back against erasure. Her creative practice is community-based as her research and resulting bodies of work often draw from public archives. Minniefield recently served as the Stuart A. Rose Library artist-in-residence at Emory University. Through a collaboration with Flux Projects, she presented her work Remembrance as Resistance: Preserving Black Narratives in Atlanta’s historically segregated cemetery to honor the over 800 unmarked graves that were discovered in the African-American burial grounds. In partnership with Emory University, Minniefield was awarded the prestigious National Endowment for the Arts Our Town Grant to present her Praise House project at three different locations in the metro Atlanta area to celebrate the African-American history of each community. Her exhibition entitled, "Indigo Prayers: A Creation Story" was recently presented by the Michael C. Carlos Museum on the campus of Emory University in Atlanta. She was recently named an inaugural Constellations Fellow with the Center for Cultural Power. She currently splits her time in residence between Atlanta and the Gambia, where she continues to study the origins of her cultural identity and indigenous traditions by tracing the Ring Shout.

THE NEW FREEDOM PROJECT

The New Freedom Project encourages creative expression, collaboration and community partnerships which use art at its center to address issues of social justice.

It is the effort of the New Freedom Project to leverage resources and assets in communities in order to bring artists together with civic leaders, volunteers, arts and cultural agencies, nonprofit organizations, and government entities to create meaningful change and solution for systemic issues around civil and human rights today.

The New Freedom Project believes that art can be a catalyst for change and that the principals of creative collaboration can serve as a foundation for dialogue and ultimately understanding so that collective progress can be made towards common goals of justice, equity, and freedom.

THE PRAISE HOUSE PROJECT 501c3

With this mission in mind, Praise House Project Inc is a 501c3, nonprofit organization which presents arts and cultural programming which celebrate and preserve Black narratives, through community-based programming in the arts and humanities which uplift and preserve African American histories in communities.