A manifesto-guidebook to one of the American Souths most astounding art environments
In the summer of 1989, Joe Minter had a vision from God to create art that would honor the shared experiences of African Americans in this country. From that moment, Minter began building a sprawling collection of sculpture and installation works on land adjacent to both his home and the Shadow Lawn Memorial Gardens, a historically black cemetery, in the Woodland Park neighborhood of Birmingham. The result is a continuously evolving art environment that recounts both immediately local and world events that have affected humanity, with a focus on the contributions and tribulations of African Americans. Thousands of visitors from all over the world have visited his yard environment, and Minters sculptures are now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and many other museums nationwide.
