CURRENT PROJECTS
This project is being funded entirely through crowdsourcing. Project Narrative: “I’m in Danger When You Think I’m Dangerous” An image of a black teen from whose mind come a maze he feels stuck in. The walls of the maze form the word DANGER. In the passages of the maze are various dangers (the KKK, elections, friend’s parents, etc.) behind the hidden corners. While a path through the middle is possible, a simple path also skirts the maze, both paths lead to a door through which a riot of color, African patterns, graffiti, and celebration lies.
DJ hopes that his friends’ parents and his parents’ friends will see this and better understand how it feels for him to live in this world.
This collaborative art installation is a reflection of DJ’s embodied experience of racial injustice and the trap that it become within a person’s mind as well as the abundant life that is possible through healing and connection.
Jewell brings her professional experience to the project both in art and in communication. “I am committed to working for racial justice both as a parent, community member and artist. This piece directly addresses DJ’s experience of being Black in family, in our city and as an artist. Our different racial experiences and generational experiences add to the layers of meaning in this artpiece. It is my belief that art is a powerful and healing tool for our selves and our communities that we need right now.”
DJ SchmittDJ Schmitt is an emerging artist whose work is powerful and healing. “Art is my dream life. This project will be peaceful and prosperous,” DJ says of his work. He uses his experiences and emotions to tap into the untouchable hopes and fears of life. This revelation of himself shows courage and endurance in the midst of adversity and distraction. DJ has partnered with Jewell in the past on smaller projects, but this is his first full scale installation.
View GoFundMe »
DJ hopes that his friends’ parents and his parents’ friends will see this and better understand how it feels for him to live in this world.
This collaborative art installation is a reflection of DJ’s embodied experience of racial injustice and the trap that it become within a person’s mind as well as the abundant life that is possible through healing and connection.
Jewell brings her professional experience to the project both in art and in communication. “I am committed to working for racial justice both as a parent, community member and artist. This piece directly addresses DJ’s experience of being Black in family, in our city and as an artist. Our different racial experiences and generational experiences add to the layers of meaning in this artpiece. It is my belief that art is a powerful and healing tool for our selves and our communities that we need right now.”
DJ SchmittDJ Schmitt is an emerging artist whose work is powerful and healing. “Art is my dream life. This project will be peaceful and prosperous,” DJ says of his work. He uses his experiences and emotions to tap into the untouchable hopes and fears of life. This revelation of himself shows courage and endurance in the midst of adversity and distraction. DJ has partnered with Jewell in the past on smaller projects, but this is his first full scale installation.
View GoFundMe »
The Justice Fleet
S. Jewell S. McGhee has joined forces with The Justice Fleet as The Project Coordinator. Her work will focus primarily on the development and implementation of the "Radical Imagination" exhibit, a mobile museum of interactive community art engagement.
www.thejusticefleet.com
www.thejusticefleet.com
Photography
An expert in photographing the work of aerial artists, S. Jewell S. McGhee captures dynamic storytelling images.
Murals and Public Art Installations
Jewell's artwork can be seen at St. Louis Language Immersion School on Marine Ave. in St. Louis and at Crossroads Presbyterian Fellowship in Maplewood, MO. Jewell specializes in working with communities to design art installations that enhance and support the mission of the organization. (Schedule a consult here.)
RECENT PROJECTS
Wound in the Water
Wound in the Water was an integrative experience of the arts. With a full choir and an orchestra, African drumming African dance, storytelling, fiber art and painting. S. Jewell S. McGhee was a part of the development of the artist vision that was embodied in Wound in the Water, and her fiber art and painting were integral in bringing it to life.
Dwell in Other Futures
April 28th, 2018 at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, The Justice Fleet opened a brand new installation of the Radical Imagination exhibit called "Imagining St. Louis Futures with the Justice Fleet." Dwell in Other Futures was a two-day festival of art and ideas that explored the collisions of race, urbanism and futurism, providing a platform for alternate visions for the St. Louis to come.
Waterfall of St. Louis Stories
Commissioned by the Regional Art Commission for the Evocation Exhibit as a park of the Evoke St. Louis Cultural campaign.
Displayed at the RAC on Delmar until November 2, 2017
Made by the Divinemoira Studio Team www.divinemoira.org , designed by S. Jewell S. McGhee
Displayed at the RAC on Delmar until November 2, 2017
Made by the Divinemoira Studio Team www.divinemoira.org , designed by S. Jewell S. McGhee
Art and Faith
Art and Faith intersect with worship in powerful and dynamic ways. During an art chapel, on April 16th, 2018 the Eden community will gather and worship God through visual arts. Gallery by S. Jewell S. McGhee and Jerri Davenport
Aria Rising
She began as a broken mannequin and a pile of trash and from these discarded pieces she became a symbol of hope. Inspired by the work of Angel Band Project that uses music as therapy for victims of intimate and sexual abuse and to raise awareness and empathy within the greater community. Viewers are invited to fill her empty bottles with messages of hope and understanding transforming her just as we transform each other with our interactions and words. (more)
Turbulence behind Tranquility
In curating this exhibit we have sought to give voice to has been silenced… Let yourself be surprised at what you see. These are unexpected perspectives, unheard voices.
And when you see the pictures that hold pain, my challenge for you is to look, rather than look away. Be a part of the community that holds people in rather than pushing them out in the midst of hard time. There is truth in hard places. There is beauty in brokenness. (more)
And when you see the pictures that hold pain, my challenge for you is to look, rather than look away. Be a part of the community that holds people in rather than pushing them out in the midst of hard time. There is truth in hard places. There is beauty in brokenness. (more)
Isaiah Project
Creating an illustrated book of the prophet Isaiah (more)
The one of four installations at St. Louis Language Immersion Schools is a mural called, "What does a tree look like?" See its progress at #whatdoesatreelooklike #artatSLLIS and of course #artworkofsjewellsmcghee
"Up and Down" staircase mural
COMING SOON
The Art of Relating, with Fidelity Counseling, Maplewood, MO
I am working with Mary Crook, LLC from Fidelity counseling to host an arts and friendship retreat. This will be a hands on experience of creating art in community! We anticipate that this will be a time of deepening our ability to sustain and thrive in friendships and family relationships. I am excited to share the ability of art to strengthen community and spur conversations.
We are still in the planning stage and have no date set. Contact Jewell with questions or to subscribe to updates on this project!
We are still in the planning stage and have no date set. Contact Jewell with questions or to subscribe to updates on this project!