BIOGRAPHICAL OVERVIEW

C. Drew - photographer/artist began exhibiting his work in St. Paul, Minnesota while teaching photo art in the low income Summit-University community. At the Inner-City Youth League Chris discovered artists adding value to an urban ethnic community.

This inspired him in 1987 to co-founded the Uptown Multi-Cultural Art Center and has guided him over the years as the "Art of the T-shirt" summer exhibit series grew and evolved. In teaching screen print to artists he has found his art applied to t-shirts.

THE DETAILS

Below I will add more details in a series that tells the autobiography of a community art experience. It is my desire that you enjoy the art and the story. Order a t-shirt and support community art.

ICYL

Inner-City Youth League (ICYL) gave me my start in the "community arts." Activist art, meat and potatoes realism or perhaps healthy garlic, vegetarian and good for your brain and eyesight fish and carrots diet. ... Something the everyday enlightened soul can feast on. Discussion starting art. Shoestring art - funded by elbow grease and inspiration. Non-archival - art for today made on anything available. Not for the collector's investors dreams of rip the struggling artist but definitely reflecting the dreams and aspirations for those - the audience - the community communicated with. This is not something an institution made to serve the wealthy art circles is ever likely to imitate or to embrace once put in operation by community artists. In this instance, the African American community in St. Paul, Minnesota was the audience. Around the nation at this time - 1976-1980's there were many such examples of community art ventures serving neighborhoods that are independent art activity poorer today. This is because the Carter Administration allowed artists to participate in CETA programs for training under-employed people during those years. In 1980 Reagan began to cut many programs that served grass-roots Americans on the premise that they were too expensive. Community artists were among the first to go. A few of us have survived.

[ Most recently, I hear that the money saved over these years of cut programs, collected from the many, is to be distributed largely to "the few" in the form of a tax break. The community artist moves on with direct support the only option. ]

Shortly out of college, I studied photography in the Studio Arts Department at the University of Minnesota, raised in a white middle income community in Minneapolis. I was an atypical student who took off to travel - to "dropout" and experience the world beyond the books. It was during my first travel abroad funded by savings from driving a cab and by working along the way that my major changed from biochemistry to journalism and later after a trip to Egypt funded by the Student Project for Amenity Amongst Nations, that I changed to Photograph/Art. I wanted to work in community arts. This was the source of the heart of America at that time as it is today. Everything real begins in the grass-roots. For me - that is an axiom. At ICYL my eyes were opened to an African American community under pressure healing itself with art. As this process unfolded I learned of the power and value of art to community. I could never be the same.

Projected Bio pages to come (don't hold your breath):

WETA

Chicago and UM-CAC

Art of the T-shirt/Screen Print Workshop for Artists

Growth of my Screened Art Series (how to survive)