Artivist In Action: Ronald Herd (R2C2H2) Teaches The Community Through Art.
LIMELIGHT November 2005
"ARTIVIST"
PURSUES DREAM : Painter, Author,Musician, Volunteer, Memphis native and
Washington University graduate Ronald Herd, 25, has quit Substitute
Teaching to focus fully on his art. He frequently travels around the
country to display his drawings and promote his self-published book,
"James Reese Europe: Jazz Lieutenant". Photo by Carl Hess II.
Herd
is an 'artivist' combining his art and afrocentric and humanist
sensibilities. "I try to synthesize everyone I meet, everything I read
and see with my own DNA and experiences. I'm terrifically influenced by
others art, including the masters and by music and my own spiritual
connection to God and His Universe. I truly feel connected to the
present and the past , tremendously eager about the future and my
journey. Let me amend that to the earth and it's inhabitants journey in
the cosmos. R2C2H2 is pictured here with his high school art teacher
the great Dr. Emily 'Boo' Ruch at the opening reception of his one
person exhibition, R2C2H2: In The Black, in the Ross Gallery at
Christian Brothers University of Memphis,Tn (April 8, 2005). R2C2H2 is
only the third African American to have had an exhibition at the venue.
Photo by Carl Hess II.
FIRST
OF MANY: "James Reese Europe: Jazz Lieutenant" is Ronald Herd's book on
the Composer/Music Publisher/Theatrical Producer/World War I Hero. The
book is split between text that tells Lt. Europe's story and drawings
by Herd that pull the reader into the narrative. Herd's approach to
history has already won recognition; the book was recently named to the
Smithsonian Institute's "Jazz Books for Kids and Young Adults" list. He
hopes that his books will demolish the thought that it takes one person
to manufacture social change. "It takes a group of people to get
things going," says Herd.
Herd's
art and writing have already brought the young artist to the attention
of the art community nationally. It has also allowed him to travel and
meet "so many diverse people". It has been a great side benefit for me.
Here is at a gallery showing of his works (R2C2H2: Evolution of a
Style,2002) at St. Louis' own Vaughn Cultural Art Center with Elaine
Brown, the first and only female President of The Black Panthers. Herd
refers to himself as an 'Artivist'. An artivist is an activist who
combines the two disciplines.
THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN
BY THE BRILLIANT AND GREAT MR. B HIMSELF, BYRON LEE, A DEAR SUPPORTER
AND FRIEND OF THE R2C2H2 EXPERIENCE...YOU CAN ALSO FIND THIS ARTICLE IN
THE NOVEMBER 2005 ISSUE OF THE LIMELIGHT http://www.limelightnews.com/ ,
THE POPULAR ST. LOUIS REGION BLACK MONTHLY NEWSZINE...YOU CAN CONTACT
MR. B THE GIFTED ARTIST OF WORDS AT THE FOLLOWING E-MAIL ADDRESS:
BYRONLEE3@YAHOO.COM
Conversations with Ronald Herd, a
self-proclaimed “Artivist” (artist meets activist), are captivating
journeys through the pop cultural, political, and historical landscape.
He voices his thoughts in a Southern baritone intermittently accented
with a booming cackle of a laugh; he peppers those thoughts with
references to everyone from Barry Bonds and Usher to Robert Johnson and
John Bolton. The listener struggles between effortlessly going along for
the ride and repeatedly asking, “Can you repeat that?”
It
is Herd’s charismatic personality and wide-ranging intelligence that
has allowed him to make a name for himself as an artist both in St.
Louis and in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. Herd, 25, has dedicated
himself to educating people about the contributions of blacks through
his art, and he sees no limit in how that art manifests itself.
His
artistic journey began early in life. He developed a speech impediment
at the age of 2. “My words would run together when I talked”, remembers
Herd, “so I channeled my frustrations into my drawings.” He had more
strife during his early school years. As a student in the Memphis Public
School system, he was shuffled from school to school and misunderstood
by many of his teachers. He would find solace in the schools’ libraries.
“It was a way for me to feed my mind,” says Herd, who, thanks to his
knowledge of American Presidents, earned a reputation for being one of
the smartest kids in his class, even before he started making the Honor
Roll.
His thirst for knowledge was noticed by his
mother, Callie, a Computer Programmer who is heavily involved in
community activism. Ms. Herd bought a World Book Encyclopedia set for
her son; the youngster immediately started researching historical
figures. Ms. Herd further nurtured her son’s interest by enrolling him
in the Memphis Schools’ CAPA program (Creating And Performing Arts), a
program that lasted from his 7th-12th grade years. “It allowed me to
focus on my craft and take it seriously,” says Herd of the program.
Finally, a twist of fate occurred when Herd was one of 15 blacks out of
250 students accepted into Tennessee’s Governor’s School program the
summer before his senior year at Overton High School. Herd says that his
experience in the program taught him how to interact with different
groups of people. “There were people there who did not like the work
that I did, but they eventually grew to respect me.”
One
person who liked Herd and respected his work was Georgia Binnington,
Associate Dean of the Washington University School of Art. Ms.
Binnington, who was at the Memphis College of Art as part of National
Portfolio Day, was so struck by Herd’s entries in the festival that she
suggested that he apply for the University’s John B. Ervin Program, a
program that provides a full scholarship. Herd was accepted.
Herd’s
passion for art would unexpectedly take focus while Herd was sitting in
an 8am class during his freshman year. He was watching a documentary on
experimental jazz icon Sun Ra when he heard the legend make the
statement that would become Herd’s credo: “Space is the Place.” Sun
Ra’s quote has been used by several people, but Herd believes that many
people have missed the true meaning of the statement. “You look at his
garb, and you would think that he is talking about the cosmos, outer
space. What he was really talking about was the space between your two
ears, your mind, your brain. Your imagination is a very powerful tool.
You can create whatever you want to. Use it as a tool and empower
yourself and others with it.”
Inspired by both Sun Ra
and the University’s “Introduction to Ragtime” course, Herd started
studying jazz and blues musicians on his own. He was even more
invigorated by what he read. “The early practitioners of jazz and blues
were very powerful musically, even though a lot of them were not very
rich socio-economically speaking. Their music was able to change
people’s minds about a lot of things, it was able to start a lot of
controversy, and it was able to get a lot of things moving.”
Herd
started putting more historical information into his work. He also
realized early on that if he was going to reach people, he would have to
work on his own to make sure that his work was seen. He started
searching through the Internet relentlessly in order to find openings in
galleries. He also took the bull by the horns and booked one-man shows
at the Sheldon and the Urban League. He was the youngest artist at the
2001 Art St. Louis display (where he made his first sale, the Charlie
Parker-inspired “Bird In Flight,” for $1500) and, a few months later, he
was one of 50 recipients, out of 14,000 applicants, to receive the
$1,000 Double Mint Grant Award.
Adhering to his
pledge to reach people, Herd also took part in the Chips In Motion Reach
to Teach program, where members of disadvantaged communities are taught
about health through the arts. Herd loved the equality demonstrated in
the program. “There were older people and younger people, and everyone
was teaching each other. No one was above anyone else. That is what
education should be,” says Herd.
Herd graduated from
Washington University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in
Printmaking/Drawing in the Spring of 2002 (he actively recruits black
students for the school). He continued creating art while simultaneously
working as a Substitute Teacher when he read “A Life In Ragtime,” Reid
Badger’s biography of Composer/Music Publisher/Theatrical Producer/World
War I Hero Lieutenant James Reese Europe. He then saw an opportunity to
further educate an audience that would not normally be exposed to
historical information. “Most people are not going to read a 300 page
book. Some may not even read a 100 page book. I’ve always sprinkled
historical facts in my work, so I saw writing a book on James Europe as
an extension of that.”
Herd’s self-published book,
“James Reese Europe: Jazz Lieutenant” (which can be purchased from
Herd’s website, www.r2c2h2.com, or from www.booksurge.com) is
seventy-five pages almost equally split between text that tells Lt.
Europe’s story and drawings by Herd that pull the reader into the
narrative. Herd’s approach to history has already won recognition; the
book was recently named to the Smithsonian institute’s “Jazz Books for
Kids and Young Adults” list. “During his day, [Europe] was one of the
most popular black men in North America. He organized the first black
musicians union in our country. For him to be written out of Jazz
History is a sham.”
Herd has decided to quit teaching
and to pursue his art fulltime. He has several books ready for
publication, and he hopes to continue to be both a resource and an
inspiration for his audience “I want people to see in my work and my
persona that it is okay to mess up and be rejected. As long as you get
back up and follow your dreams, you can’t go wrong.”
