Walker West
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The Artist:
Ta-coumba Aiken Art Title: Music Lives Here (2018) “I create my art to heal the hearts of people and their communities by evoking a positive spirit” Song to Accompany the Art: Randy Weston – Blue Moses https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzsgURRwHRs |
“Music Lives Here,” proclaims the sign on the Walker West Music Academy. Founded in 1988 by Rev. Carl Walker and Grant West, the school has always sought to be a safe space for all children in the neighborhood to pursue music. Ta-coumba Aiken has long admired the school, and its commitment to all of the youth. He was able to take that admiration for the school and its founders, as well as the spirit of the community and put it into a 76-foot long metal mural. “Music lives there is the heart of the community, not just the Walker West,” says Aiken. “It’s more referring to the life, the harmony and disharmony of it all.”
Created in five-by-three and five-by-four foot pieces, Aiken uses his moving lines to encourage people to see what they will see. “You see a weaving that you identify as a person or a flower,” says Aiken. “You’ll see instruments that just come out of a swirl and turn into a bass, a guitar, and a drum. You’ll see big spaces and loops and all of a sudden you realize that’s someone singing with their hands around their mouth or yelling out.”
Aiken carries deep respect for Walker and West and what they were able to create. “I wanted to carry on their legacy,” he says. “I didn’t want to put their faces on it, because that would be forgotten. But if I put their spirit on it, then their spirit will live forever.”
Ta-coumba T. Aiken is a public artist and public arts activist. He creates art to help communities find their Visual Voice through collaborative community engagement and creative discovery.
He is a Trustee at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. He has served on the advisory boards of the Gordon Parks Gallery at Metropolitan State University and on the MADE HERE advisory board for Hennepin Theater Trust.
He is the recipient of the Knight Arts Challenge grant in collaboration with The Walker West Music Academy and is presently working on the Bigger’s SEED Project as co-lead artist with Seitu Jones. His artworks are exhibited in organizations, such as McKnight Foundation reception hall, Augsburg University (Hagfors Center for Science, Business, and Religion), Hennepin Theatre Trust Gallery, and etc. His public art projects cover the Twin Cities area, including Shadows at the Crossroads at Minneapolis Sculpture Garden; Music Lives Here at The Walker West Music Academy; murals on selby avenue, and so much more.
Whether he is creating art for an individual, private collection, corporate collection, communities, municipalities or countries, his intent is to give the audience a lasting experience that is subtle and dynamic at the same time.
https://www.ta-coumba.com/
Created in five-by-three and five-by-four foot pieces, Aiken uses his moving lines to encourage people to see what they will see. “You see a weaving that you identify as a person or a flower,” says Aiken. “You’ll see instruments that just come out of a swirl and turn into a bass, a guitar, and a drum. You’ll see big spaces and loops and all of a sudden you realize that’s someone singing with their hands around their mouth or yelling out.”
Aiken carries deep respect for Walker and West and what they were able to create. “I wanted to carry on their legacy,” he says. “I didn’t want to put their faces on it, because that would be forgotten. But if I put their spirit on it, then their spirit will live forever.”
Ta-coumba T. Aiken is a public artist and public arts activist. He creates art to help communities find their Visual Voice through collaborative community engagement and creative discovery.
He is a Trustee at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. He has served on the advisory boards of the Gordon Parks Gallery at Metropolitan State University and on the MADE HERE advisory board for Hennepin Theater Trust.
He is the recipient of the Knight Arts Challenge grant in collaboration with The Walker West Music Academy and is presently working on the Bigger’s SEED Project as co-lead artist with Seitu Jones. His artworks are exhibited in organizations, such as McKnight Foundation reception hall, Augsburg University (Hagfors Center for Science, Business, and Religion), Hennepin Theatre Trust Gallery, and etc. His public art projects cover the Twin Cities area, including Shadows at the Crossroads at Minneapolis Sculpture Garden; Music Lives Here at The Walker West Music Academy; murals on selby avenue, and so much more.
Whether he is creating art for an individual, private collection, corporate collection, communities, municipalities or countries, his intent is to give the audience a lasting experience that is subtle and dynamic at the same time.
https://www.ta-coumba.com/