Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion: Deep Rivers
The Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion will be charged with artistic energy over the next six months, as artist-in-residence Linda Sanders paints an interior mural honoring African American struggles and triumphs. Sanders was selected through an extensive search, but sometimes the best things are found close to home, as the artist is a well-known community member who lives just around the corner from the Mansion. The idea to bring in an artist-in-residence came with the success of the Mansion’s Deep Rivers tour, which highlights the lives, stories, and achievements of 19th-century Black entrepreneurs, intellectuals, and artisans. Sanders will bring the stories of these heroes to life as a mural painted within an unfinished space on the upper floor of the Mansion. Not only will this offer visitors the opportunity to experience contemporary art, but it also brings them into a space not previously included on tours.
Linda Sanders has exhibited extensively at Philadelphia art fairs, including the Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Show and Philadelphia Sketch Club. Most recently, her work was displayed as part of Chestnut Hill’s “Art on the Avenue.” Sanders’ aesthetic is influenced by the great early 20th-century abstract painters like Pablo Picasso and Joan Miro, but her style is entirely her own. For example, At the Club is a composition so energetic that the music seems to stream out from the painting. Sanders infuses her work with what she calls “the magic and mysteries of African folklore,” juxtaposing traditional elements with contemporary her portraiture, still life, and social scenes. Sanders paints the “energy that emanates from the subject,” a quality that will inform her work at the Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion.
The forthcoming mural focuses on the subjects from the Deep Rivers tour, including composer and musician Francis Johnson, which reflects her ongoing interest in depicting musical subjects. Francis Johnson lived and taught music at his home near 11th and Lombard Streets in Philadelphia, and his achievements were extraordinary. Johnson was the first African American to publish sheet music and the first Black musician to tour Europe with a band, including a performance for Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace. In her mural, Sanders plans to portray the celebratory energy of Johnson’s triumphs, along with the racism and unimaginable obstacles experienced by African Americans in the 19th century. The duality of struggle and celebration is a theme that runs throughout Sanders’ concept for the mural, which will be on view beginning in September 2022.
-Heather Moqtaderi, Curator, Past Present Projects
(See sketches for this project below)
