Shop artful while supporting Black artists at the Mint Museum Store
For Black History Month, Mint Museum Store staff curated a selection of items that celebrate Black stories, art, and artists.
Find Your Voice jigsaw puzzle
This 1,000-piece puzzle, is both a social statement and a striking graphic. Brightly dressed figures, silhouetted on a colorful, 60’s-inspired psychedelic backdrop, are posed so as to engage us in conversation about love, empathy, compassion, inclusion, and justice. Illustrated by artist Aurelia Durand, and made by “a woman-owned, mother-run, sustainably sourced” company, the puzzle also includes a full-color image reference print. Find Your Voice jigsaw puzzle, $24.
Black Art Matters face mask
This face covering features artist Willie Cole’s Black Art Matters logo and the artist’s iconic scorch mark. Through the use of simple objects like an iron, Cole creates symbolic designs that have profound meanings. Each reusable mask is made with three layers of fabric and is machine washable. Black Art Matters face mask, $18.
Brave. Black. First. postcard set
These 100 stunning postcards celebrate 50 groundbreaking African American women, from Harriet Tubman and Rosa Parks to Angela Davis and Beyoncé—published in collaboration with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. Each card features the portrait on the front and, on the back, an inspiring quote, short biographical information, and space for writing a message. Brave. Black. First. postcard set, $20.
Young, Gifted and Black: A New Generation of Artists
This book surveys the work of a new generation of Black artists, features the voices of a diverse group of curators who are on the cutting edge of contemporary art, and showcases the art collection of Bernard I. Lumpkin and Carmine D. Boccuzzi. As mission-driven collectors, Lumpkin and Boccuzzi have championed emerging artists of African descent through museum loans and institutional support, but until now, there has never been an opportunity to consider their acclaimed collection as a whole. Young, Gifted and Black: A New Generation of Artists, $49.95.
The Incredible Joy of Collecting African American Art: My Journey from Frogtown, S.C. to the National Gallery
Written by Patrick Diamond, The Incredible Joy of Collecting African American Art: My Journey from Frogtown, S.C. to the National Gallery chronicles the author’s journey from growing up in poverty to avidly collecting African American art. Growing up during Jim Crow restrictions, Diamond describes a childhood with limited opportunities and reinforced social, political, and cultural inequities layered with personal stories of how his love of art began with his grandmother, and how he and his wife joined forces to support and celebrate African American artists. The Incredible Joy of Collecting African American Art: My Journey from Frogtown, S.C. to the National Gallery, $30.
The Beauty of Everyday Thangs
After 13 years in the making, award-winning documentary photographer Ken West releases a book of photographs entitled The Beauty of Everyday Thangs, a first-of-its-kind photo collection inspired by the art of mindfulness as a testament to black humanity. While the majority of the images are of folks in the midst of what West terms “revolutionary normalcy,” the book also features candid moments with cultural icons like legendary lyricists and activists Clifford “T.I.” Harris, stic of dead prez, British actor and musician Tricky, and groundbreaking filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles. Photographs taken in Havana, New York, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Detroit using West’s collection of film cameras (some as many as 60+ years old) are included in the nearly 250-page book. The Beauty of Everyday Thangs, $29.95.
Black Lives Matter T-shirts
Stop by either the Mint Museum Store Uptown or at Mint Museum Randolph to purchase an official Charlotte Black Lives Matter Mural T-shirt. Available in sizes XS-XXL. $36 each with $5 from the sale of each shirt going to a charitable organization.