Celebration of Black history mural in downtown Joplin rescheduled
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Aug. 10—An event to celebrate a new Black history mural in downtown Joplin and meet its artist has been rescheduled for 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 18, at the intersection of First and Main streets.
The mural is located on the north side of Bruce's Point of View Optical, with wall on which it is painted having been donated by Bruce Cuthbert. The artist is Kansas City-based muralist Alexander Austin.
The mural depicts 11 Black artists and activists who left their mark on Joplin during a time of racial segregation in America: jazz saxophonist Charles McPherson; composer and pianist Scott Joplin; jazz composer and pianist Duke Ellington; contralto and civil rights activist Marian Anderson; performer and singer Melissa F. Cuther; singer Ella Fitzgerald; jazz performer Dizzy Gillespie; performer Cab Calloway; poet Langston Hughes; entertainer Sammy Davis Jr.; and singer Mamie Smith.
The September event, which was rescheduled from last month, will feature music, refreshments and information about the mural.
Austin will be available to sign autographs and speak with attendees; he also will have locally inspired paintings for sale.
Special guests will be McPherson, who was born in Joplin, and Marjol Rush-Collet, a cousin of Hughes, who also was born in Joplin. Local and state officials also have been invited.
The mural is the result of a collaboration of the McPherson family, Connect2Culture, Joplin Arts District, Langston Hughes Cultural Society, the Minnie Hackney Community Service Center of Joplin, Post Art Library, Pro Musica, Spiva Center for the Arts, and Visit Joplin.
The project was significantly funded by a fundraiser with McPherson that took place in February in Joplin.
Donations for the mural's longevity may be made to the Langston Hughes Cultural Society:
—By PayPal at https://www.paypal.com/fundraiser/charity/3946362.
—By check, made out to Langston Hughes Cultural Society and sent to P.O. Box 1183, 101 S. Main St., Joplin, MO 64802.
—Via the Langston Hughes Cultural Society Facebook page.
