STOREFRONT: QURAYSH ALI LANSANA

THE INSTALLATION FEATURES GRAPHICS AND TEXT FROM "OPAL'S GREENWOOD OASIS"

2021 Tulsa Artist Fellowship Arts Integration Award recipient Quraysh Ali Lansana is featured in the third iteration of STOREFRONT, a series of artistic interventions occurring in commercial spaces in Tulsa, OK, presented by Tulsa Artist Fellowship.

The installation features graphics and text from "Opal's Greenwood Oasis," a newly published children's book by Lansana and Najah-Amatullah Hylton illustrated by Ski Hill. In both words and illustrations, this carefully researched and historically accurate book allows children to experience the joys and success of Greenwood, one of the most prosperous Black communities of the early 20th Century, an area Booker T. Washington dubbed America’s Black Wall Street.

Soon after the day narrated by Opal, Greenwood would be lost in the Tulsa Race Massacre, the worst act of racial violence in American history. As we approach the centennial of that tragic event, children have the opportunity through this book to learn and celebrate all that was built in Greenwood.

"Opal's Greenwood Oasis" may be purchased online at thecalliopegroup.com or locally at Fulton Street Books and Magic City Books. Resources about Greenwood, Black Wall Street, and the Tulsa Race Massacre here.

Lansana's window installation is now on view at 217 E. Archer St. through March 31, 2021.

This public artwork is free and open to the public. Visitors are invited to visit the installation anytime. Tulsa Artist Fellowship welcomes people with disabilities. For questions about accessibility or to request an accommodation, please email caroline@tulsaartistfellowship.org or call 918.591.2461. Requests should be made at least one-week prior to viewing.