📍Lumpkin, Georgia: Lonnie Holley Mural
“Thumbs up,” he always says, “for Mother Universe!”
Lonnie Holley (b. 1950, Birmingham, AL) is an American artist.
Written by Annie Moye
Header photo by Brian Brown (2021)
I grew up relatively privileged and white in a mostly Black, impoverished community in rural southwest Georgia. At the time, there were only two reasons to stop in my hometown of Lumpkin: the immoveable and breathtakingly gorgeous manmade disaster that is Providence Canyon; and Historic Westville, “where it’s always 1850,” a living history museum where my father served as director for nearly thirty years, ending his tenure there early this century. Long story short, of those two sites, only Providence Canyon remains today, and I grew very bitter over the years at those responsible for the loss of Westville. Home wasn’t home without the arts and culture.
Around 2019, I founded The Reimagine Home Project, a small nonprofit arts collaborative that aims to bring quality arts programming and education to Stewart County, Georgia. I’m not rich, so to begin I started fundraising and grant writing for local murals. The first mural was by local hero and Andrew College art professor, Christopher Johnson, who has made a profound mark on the region with his many artistic tributes to its small (and medium-sized!) communities. His mural in my hometown is a traditional postcard-like background welcoming you to “Lumpkin, GA,” and featuring the tremendous diversity in our natural beauty in Stewart County.
For the second mural, in 2020, I asked my community partners at the Stewart County Historical Commission to trust me in picking an artist whose work would draw a new kind of tourism to our humble community. A former mentor of mine, William S. Arnett, who passed that year, had introduced me to an artist that I knew would bring fans of contemporary art, especially visionary or self-taught art, to our downtown: Lonnie Holley, the internationally renowned artist featured in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the High Museum in Atlanta, to name but two. A few friends in nearby Columbus, Arnett’s place of birth, warned that the work of a Black artist may not be entirely welcomed in our rural neighborhood. I acknowledged the potential for some negative feedback but felt nonetheless determined in my mission to bring quality art to SOWEGA.
I was kind of trusting what my friend Joni Mabe the Elvis Babe, another friend I met through Arnett, said about building her “Everything Elvis” Museum in an historic house in Cornelia, GA: “If you build it, they will come.” It was my wildest dream that we could paint a Lonnie Holley mural in my hometown, in the middle of nowhere, as it were. Of course, we thought it was the center of the universe when I was a kid, and you’d think Lonnie agreed when he said he’d do it. He recognized the dire need for our local communities to have access to the arts, but also, he was thinking of the children—future artists—the mural might inspire. In fact, he asked me to put together gift bags filled with art supplies and snacks for children of all ages who came to the mural dedication.
Lonnie’s son Zeke, an artist in his own right, stayed in the area in peak summer heat 2021 and executed the mural according to his father’s designs for his block prints titled, “Born into Colors” and “Black in the Midst of the Red, White, and Blue.” Locals stopped Zeke as he was working to encourage him and asked if he’d extend the mural over the whole building. We were all thrilled with the finished piece, and Lonnie even suggested draping the mural in some tarp to keep the reveal a surprise for the dedication ceremony.
It turned out there was some backlash against the mural from a few locals, specifically white locals, and I don’t want to give too much space to that because they were in the minority. These reactions were oftentimes viciously racist, and sometimes just for no other reason than that some people want to set all that’s good on fire. I still know in my heart that Lonnie’s mural will bring attention to Lumpkin, and I’m eternally grateful to him and his team for making this magic happen. Like the artist, I hope this mural inspires the youth in Stewart County. For those who, for one way or another, feel thrown-off-the-train like me, but more importantly, for those born and raised there who have no other exposure to public art.
Anyone who has studied Lonnie’s work knows it’s critical of history, yes, but like the artist himself, it carries hope for the future and has a bedrock optimism. “Thumbs up,” he always says, “for Mother Universe!”
📍Lonnie Holley’s mural titled “Born into Colors” and “Black in the Midst of the Red, White, and Blue” (2021) is located at 314 Main Street, Lumpkin, GA 31815. Need directions? View it on The Art Field Interactive Map.
Annie Moye (she/her) holds a Master's degree in American Studies and serves as the Chair of the Pasaquan Preservation Society, a small nonprofit that aids Columbus State University in the stewardship of self-taught artist and Georgia native St. EOM's art environment, Pasaquan, outside of Buena Vista, GA. Founder of the budding nonprofit arts collaborative, The Reimagine Home Project, she resides with her partner and three cats in metro Atlanta, Georgia.
Keep up with Lonnie, Annie, Brian as well as The Reimagine Home Project!
Instagram @lonnieholleysuniverse / @anniesaysii / @the.reimaginehomeproject / @vanishinggeorgia
Read more about Lonnie’s creatively-lived life here: www.lonnieholley.com
Lonnie’s hand. Photo by Brian Brown (2012)