ABOUT US

Public Art for Racial Justice Education began shortly after the tragic killing of George Floyd.  We are a broadly based, interracial, non-partisan, non-sectarian organization consisting of volunteers from the communities of East Lyme, Lyme, New London, Norwich, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook, Essex, Waterford, Stonington and other communities both local and national.

As our country struggles to address the underlying issues of racial injustice, we believe that public art has an important role in racial justice awareness and helping to build “the Beloved Community” envisioned by Martin Luther King Jr. Public art can help bring to light the history of the displacement of Indigenous communities, as well as the history of the use of slaves in local households, farms, the whaling industry, the building of ships in the West Indies Trade and the ivory industry.   Through public art and accompanying public programs, we can better understand our true history, but also, it can help us to appreciate the rich diversity of our human family and challenge us to be engaged in contemporary racial justice issues.

We also believe that public art can help to keep alive, from one generation to another, the stories of local and national figures – those such as David Ruggles, Antoine DeSant, Rachel Robinson, Anna Louise James, Ann Petry, Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer and Ruby Bridges – all those who have distinguished themselves as racial justice champions.  Their stories can teach what it means today to make our communities more just, more equitable, more welcoming, and more sustainable. 

MERGER & NON-PROFIT 501C3 STATUS

In 2023 PARJE merged with Sankofa Leadership and Education, Inc. to gain official 501c3 status and pursue our shared goals of fighting for racial equity through education and community development. PARJE is officially a DBA under Sankofa Leadership and Education, Inc. and remains devoted to achieving the goals of diversity, equity, and inclusion through art.

FOR A BRIEF HISTORY OF PARJE CLICK HERE

A FEW OF OUR PILLAR PROJECTS

Diptych. “The Edmund Pettus Bridge”

Two artists have now completed a diptych depicting a vision of change in our communities from 1965 to the future.  One half honors John Lewis and other Civil Rights leaders, and the other shows the bridge as we hope it will be in the future, uniting diverse communities.  This diptych is traveling between schools, libraries, and faith communities to invite conversation about what is necessary to “cross that bridge” toward a more equitable future.  

Educational opportunities with immersive and interactive programs for children and adult-oriented lectures and conversations – virtual and live – will invite BIPOC artists to share their studios and their artistic visions on how art can serve as a form of advocacy and better understanding.  

Sister murals, starting in New London, Old Lyme, Norwich, and East Lyme, PARJE provided opportunities for skilled and unskilled artists from different communities, races, ethnicities, and generations to work together under master BIPOC artists to create murals that tell stories and remember cherished values in our respective communities. This project has grown to include Old Saybrook CT.

OUR MISSION

We commission and engage artists to create public art in and for each of our communities. Town by town, working in partnership with art schools, museums, faith communities, civic organizations, and concerned citizens, we hope to provide opportunities for community engagement through public art appropriate for each site and locality.  We will put a high priority on selecting BIPOC artists. 

We also create opportunities for BIPOC art shows, poetry readings, communal art projects, musical programs, and performance art that will engage local and diverse communities.

Public art can be a painful reminder of our past, especially for our BIPOC community members, but also, artistically, it can remind us of those heroes of the human spirit who provide us with a North Star by which our communities someday can find their way to emancipation, “free at last” from the shackles of slavery, Jim Crow and racial injustice.

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