In October, Create Birmingham, in partnership with narrative studio 1504, Navigate Affordable Housing Partners, and sculptor Joe Minter, will produce Joe Minter is Here, a groundbreaking exhibition featuring 20-30 of Mr. Minter’s pieces inside of Titusville’s historic, Marc Steel Building.

This site is significant to Joe Minter’s family history and Birmingham’s industrial history, as well as the lives of other prominent artists in Mr. Minter’s peer group, including artist and musician Lonnie Holley and artist Thornton Dial. The exhibit will be developed collaboratively by 1504 and Mr. Minter, with creative support from curator Matt Arnett and Mr. Holley.

Mr. Minter has lived in the Titusville community for more than fifty years where he has created the sprawling African Village in America on the half-acre property around his home. Part sculpture garden and part memorial, this art environment is filled with sculptures made from scrap metal and found materials. Its theme is recognition of African American history from the first arrivals of captured Africans through slavery to the convict labor system and the Civil Rights Movement to the systemic racism and violence that persists today.
Mr. Minter’s pieces have been in major US exhibitions and are in the collections of the National Gallery of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Birmingham Museum of Art. While he has been the subject of solo shows elsewhere, Joe Minter is Here will be the first exhibit in Birmingham that focuses solely on his work.

The sculptures will be shown alongside new audio and film components created by 1504 that will contextualize the importance of Mr. Minter’s work. Free public programs will take place throughout the October exhibit.