COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Greater Columbus Arts Council and the Columbus Museum of Art will announce a new residency and fellowship program honoring the legacy of Columbus artist and MacArthur Fellow Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson and kick off the capital campaign for the restoration of her home in the Shepard neighborhood on the Near East side.
WHEN: Tuesday, Dec. 3 at 10 a.m.
WHERE: Columbus Museum of Art, 480 E. Broad St., Columbus, OH 43215
Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson was born in 1940 in Columbus, Ohio and grew up in Poindexter Village, a new federally funded apartment community. From an early age, she absorbed the stories of her elders about historic Columbus neighborhoods and about the family’s ancestral roots in Africa.
Throughout her life, she documented these stories in her art and journals, in order to pass them on to future generations. Her work is grounded in the African concept of Sankofa — the importance of understanding the past in order to move forward. Robinson’s diverse body of work is about building bridges and making connections between the past and present, America and Africa, and the physical world and the world of spirits.
When she was 17, she moved with her family to the Shepard neighborhood on the near east side of the city. She eventually purchased her own home in that same neighborhood and lived there the rest of her life. When she died in 2015, Robinson left her estate, including her house, to the Columbus Museum of Art. The Museum has partnered with the Arts Council to establish the Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson Art Residency and Fellowship program.
Mission of the Greater Columbus Arts Council: To support and advance the arts and cultural fabric of Columbus. www.gcac.org
Mission of the Columbus Museum of Art: To create great experiences with great art for everyone. www.columbusmuseum.org
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CONTACT: Jami Goldstein
(614) 221-8492
jgoldstein@gcac.org
