Frank J. Brown

Frank J. Brown (1956 – April 9, 2020)[1][2] was an African-American visual artist active in Minnesota.[3] His sculptures have entered several public collections.

Weathering the Storm (1998), high-fired stoneware clay, 19 x 27 in, Sabathani Community Center, Minneapolis, MN.
A Community Within Reach (2013), high-fired stoneware clay, 12’ x 6’ x 10’. Fred Glossie Atkins Park, Sarasota, FL.

Early life and education

Brown was raised in Carbondale, Illinois, the youngest of ten children. His family later relocated to Springfield, Illinois, where he began his career as an artist while in high school.[4] As a young man, he relocated to Cleveland, Ohio for a time, and then later attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale, where he received his BFA.[5][6] He received an MFA from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in arts, metals, and ceramics.[7] He relocated to St. Paul in 1997, where he lived and worked in the Lowertown neighborhood for the majority of his career.[8]

Works

Brown's tzedakah box, Hope for Tomorrow, is in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art.[1] The work was created for "Tzedakah Box: The Art of Giving", a competition sponsored by the museum in 2002. Brown described the theme of his first place-winning box as "Through our suffering, we create hope for tomorrow."[9]

His large ceramic sculpture A Community Within Reach is permanently installed in a park in Sarasota, Florida.[10] He created the piece in St. Paul over the course of a year.[11]

He also created a bust of Martin Luther King Jr., Living For The Dream, for the Municipal Building in Madison, Wisconsin.[12]

References
  1. Frank J. Brown (2002). ""Hope for Tomorrow" tzedakah box". Minneapolis Institute of Art. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  2. "Obituary for Frank J. Brown". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  3. Melo, Frederick (October 3, 2013). "Lowertown St. Paul's artists concerned about neighborhood changes". Pioneer Press. St. Paul, Minnesota. Retrieved January 27, 2017. Sculptor Frank J. Brown, on the other hand, said he's thinking of leaving Lowertown altogether after 16 years.
  4. Peterson, Isaac. "Sculptor refuses to be pushed around by racism". Twin Cities Daily Planet. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  5. Peterson, Isaac (November 21, 2014). "Sculptor refuses to be pushed around by racism". Twin Cities Daily Planet. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  6. Halstead, Marilyn (November 21, 2014). "Artist Frank Brown visits Southern Illinois". The Southern Illinoisan. Retrieved January 30, 2017. Brown lived in Carbondale as a child, then returned to graduate from Southern Illinois University Carbondale with an art degree.
  7. "Frank Brown". Lowertown Lofts Artist Cooperative. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
  8. "Rosario: Sculpting a legacy in the Saintly City". Twin Cities. 2018-08-19. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  9. Harvey, Jennifer (August 31, 2009). "Seven-year exhibit delay leaves artist sadder, wiser".
  10. Hobbes, Dwight (June 15, 2011). "Florida park displays local sculptor's inspiring 'masterpiece'". Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
  11. "Sculptor Brown lands in Florida". Star Tribune. Minneapolis. May 26, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2017. It took a year to make the $75,000 piece at his studio in Lowertown and at Concordia University, where he fired the clay, and another eight weeks to install it in Sarasota.
  12. "Living For The Dream, 1993". Museum without Walls. cultureNOW. Retrieved January 30, 2017. This sculpture is a 700 lb. bust of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. surrounded by a six plaque relief of high fired stoneware set into a stone foundation base.


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