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• 1 media/15-848.jpg media/15-848.jpg 2021-05-01T20:57:43-07:00 Evolution of the Spirit 10 Elliot Pickney
  Southwest Los Angeles College
  1997 plain 2021-05-18T15:55:27-07:00 1997 33.930875, -118.306961 Elliot Pickney’s Evolution of the Spirit is located at Southwest Los Angeles College and   represents the school environment as an embodiment of a positively changing African American culture. Looking at the mural, we see four dancing, geometrically shaped figures. The red, pink, and yellow figures are dancing with their hands in the air while the black figure is holding a globe. Paintbrushes, books, masks, and a piano keyboard cover the edges of the mural. This mural's vibrant colors and loose brushwork call to mind the work of Black expressionist and neo-expressionist painters. Due to their size and energy, the moving, colored figures are the main focus of the mural. We might interpret them as symbols of diversity, enlightenment, and the idea that equal opportunities in arts and academics are achievable through higher education. Looking beyond history's unequal opportunities in arts and academics, Pickney’s free-flowing brushstrokes and bright colors convey a sense of optimism about the growth of educational options available to underrepresented communities.  As a tribute to Los Angeles Southwest College’s 30th anniversary , The Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC) wrote that Pickney’s “murals celebrate the histories and progressive spirit of black and brown communities while also envisioning possibilities for the next generation.”
  
  Written by Kaisa Liljenwall, c/o ‘24