Passage of Sankofa & Nkonsonkonson (a two-part installation)

Jessica Scott-Felder

During the mid 1960s, the students of Spelman College played an integral role in the Civil Rights Movement by organizing and participating in the sit-ins throughout Atlanta. Inspired by this history, Passages of Sankofa utilizes the singers from the Spelman College Glee Club to perform Part One of this artwork.

Nkonsonkonson, a Ghanaian Adinkra symbol meaning unity, is the inspiration for Part Two of this artwork – a series of life-sized charcoal drawings of Civil Rights and community leaders will stand together with arms linked in the backyard of the Martin Luther King, Jr. birth home.  Local and national community leaders’ faces from the Instagram campaign: #strengthinunityproject will also be integrated into this mural.

About the Artist

Jessica Scott-Felder utilizes found objects, drawings and photographs to transform spaces into psychological realms that are suggestive of maternal figures and ancestral and social narratives. Her work addresses issues in identity, heritage, culture, and society’s ever-evolving connection to the past through use of these devices.  Scott-Felder received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Art from Spelman College. She studied experimental drawing and cyanotype printmaking at the Santa Reparata International School of Art in Florence Italy while completing her Master’s of Fine Arts degree in Drawing, Painting and Printmaking at Georgia State University.