Contemporary folk art is an outsider art form not requiring training which draws upon daily life for inspiration with a long tradition in Alabama and in the African American Community.  The mediums are varied from sculpture, to ceramics, painting and fiber arts. 

 

A Contemporary Folk Arts Center in Alabama would provide a hub and  opportunities for discovery. Building on the stability the other institutions in the area would strongly compliment the other institutions within the "Civil Rights District" of downtown Birmingham, invigorate the neighborhood and provide new cultural exchanges for residents and visitors alike.

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The proposed site is at "Ground Zero," directly across the street from Kelly Ingram Park a memorial to the civil rights era activism and the 16th Street Baptist Church, both battlegrounds and hallowed meeting places in the 1950s and 60s.  Here Martin Luther King Jr. and Reverend Shuttlesworth led non-violent protests against Jim Crow. 

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Currently the site sits mostly vacant as a 4 acre parking lot, desolate and doing no justice to the rich past of this community.  The buildings surrounding the parking lot are blank faced and do not offer an invitation to the rest of downtown to visit this historical neighborhood.

 

The project goals are:

 

Create opportunities for artistic cross pollination

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Connect and revitalize the neighborhood.

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Preserve existing infrastructure through re-use.

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Protect hallowed ground

 

Break through barriers to activate the spaces.