Announcing NMR’s 2024 Artist in Residence
NMR is a shared space among academics, artists, and activists to highlight and discuss their work. The artist in residence is chosen each year to share their work with the journal's readership. Their work will be featured both in the print journal and website.
The 2024 artist in residence is Joseph Giri.
Giri is an Alabama artist perhaps best known for his mural works with the Civil Rights Heritage Trail and National Park Service that commemorate the Freedom Rides of Anniston.
Artist Joseph Giri restores the bus mural at the Freedom Riders monument in downtown Anniston.
Photo by Stephen Gross / The Anniston Star
As Giri says about his work as an artist:
“Even though I studied Art at three colleges, I never recommend Art school when asked for advice from parents or students. Yes, a bit of guidance to hasten the learning curve is potentially good, but many an art professor is a walking wet towel. My senior year of college we drove to Montgomery AL to see an exhibit of Southern Folk artists. It was then that I realized I'd potentially wasted years of my life. Their work was so spontaneous and alive. It was a blessing to see. Now I had to go about unlearning much of what I'd subjected myself to in school. Just like divesting years of Catholic school in the 1960s.
History has shown time and again that being a seeker who's willing to produce work till they find their direction free of convention, has arrived. The challenge is surviving in the interim and finding an audience. It's a fickle pursuit and being in a healthy market really helps. I produce a variety of work in different mediums and that has been a good survival skill.
To me, life is much like being a Zebra on the African Savannah. We're all going to get mauled by a Lion or a Crocodile eventually. If we survive, it's how we use that experience to fuel our efforts that will make or break us. It would be nice to have less scars, but I've learned to be thankful for mine and for the opportunity to continue the journey.”