Sasha Bruce Youthwork is working to conserve and preserve two historic murals by acclaimed African American artist Lois Mailou Jones that have been housed inside its Washington, D.C., facility for decades.
The organization, which provides housing, support and other services to young people experiencing homelessness and other challenges, has called on supporters to aid their efforts.
“We are now 80% of the way to reaching our goal, which is $300,000,” Judith Brodie, former curator at the National Gallery of Art and Sasha Bruce team member, told The Informer. “We’ve raised $238,000, and about half of the $300,000 will go toward paying two highly qualified conservators to do the actual work.”
The conservation effort seeks to preserve the work of Jones, whose career made her a significant figure in African American art and Washington’s artistic community.
Jones was based in Washington and spent nearly five decades as a professor at Howard University, where she influenced generations of artists.
“Lois Mailou Jones is a really important African American artist,” Brodie said. “She was based in Washington and was a professor at Howard University for nearly 50 years. She trained a lot of other important African American artists.”
The process will involve scaffolding and chemicals inside the building, meaning young people who currently reside at Sasha Bruce House will have to temporarily relocate.
Brodie said the organization estimates that finding suitable housing for the young people during the restoration would take up the remaining donations.
“We’ve been busy looking for suitable housing for the kids who reside there right now, we estimate that could be about $150,000,” Brodie said. “So it’s a two-way contribution.”
A Story Painted on the Walls
The two murals carry a broader historical significance, depicting Africa’s past, present and future. Further, the work reflects the relationship between African Americans and Africa during the period in which they were created in the mid 1950’s.
William Lightfoot, a former D.C. Council member and Sasha Bruce supporter said the murals were connected to the development of Pan-Africanism and efforts by African Americans to learn more.
“These murals certainly served the purpose of creating a bond between African Americans and the idea of Pan-Africanism, while also reflecting Africa’s past, present and future,” said Lightfoot.
The murals were commissioned by Nannie Helen Burroughs, who helped create a tight-knit community of missionaries around the world.
“It was a house where missionaries going to Africa would come before they traveled and when they returned, they would come back here,” he told The Informer. “This house served as a gathering place for those missionaries to share their experiences.”
Lightfoot explained that the murals were also intended to educate people traveling to Africa about what they might encounter and to encourage conversations about African culture and society.
“They served a very functional purpose, to educate those people going to Africa about what to expect when they got there, how to deal with certain problems and to generate discussion,” he told The Informer.
For Shaunda Patterson-Strachan, a member of the Sasha Bruce Youthwork board of directors, the murals continue to make an immediate impression on visitors.
“These murals tell a story,” Patterson-Strachan told The Informer. “Everyone has the same reaction once they see them. They’re like, ‘What!?’”
Preserving a Historic Home for Young People
Since purchasing the building in 1978, Sasha Bruce Youthwork has used the space to provide housing, support and resources to young people facing difficult circumstances.
“Sasha Bruce and its effort to help young people who are homeless is significant in our lives,” Lightfoot emphasized. “It’s giving young people the skills they need to become independent in life.
Deborah Shore, founder and executive director of Sasha Bruce Youthwork, said the organization’s work gives young people a second chance.
“We have appreciated enormously that we have a program that substantially serves African American young people who are having a hard time in their lives,” Shore said.
For the young people in the home, Jones’ work becomes critical to their journeys.
“They come here to reflect, get support and think through their next steps,” Shore continued, “while getting to look at this beautiful historic work every day.”
Every day, young people at Sasha Bruce view murals by an artist whose work is held in the collections of major museums, including the National Gallery of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Phillips Collection, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
For Brodie, the Sasha Bruce murals represent a piece of both Jones’ legacy and Washington’s history.
“The story is about Africa from the past, the present and into the future,” Brodie said. “It’s important for the history of D.C. It was also done at the cusp of the Civil Rights Movement.”
