Meet the Artists

Artists from around the world submitted proposals for the Freedom Monument Project. A jury of distinguished artists, architects and community leaders reviewed 108 proposals to select the artist team best able to articulate a vision of “freedom” captured through the experience of African Americans in North Carolina. Juan Logan and his team, landscape architect David Swanson and art historian Lyneise Williams, were selected to design and develop “Freedom Grove.”

Juan Logan
Juan Logan is Professor of Studio Art at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Mr. Logan has been a painter, sculptor, printmaker and installation artist for almost 40 years. His public art works have been commissioned from across the state, including Bank of America Headquarters (Charlotte), the Charlotte Transportation Center Cities of Belmont and Winston-Salem, among others. He has shown in exhibitions across the country, including the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Washington, DC), Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art (Ohio), NC Museum of Art (Raleigh), the Carnegie Institute (Pennsylvania) and many others. His work is also seen in a number of prestigious permanent collections including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, the Museum of African-American Art in Los Angeles and the Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC.

Lyneise Williams is an Assistant Professor of Art History at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Ms. Williams received her BFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and her MA and Ph.D. from Yale University. She specializes in the visual culture of African Diaspora with an emphasis on African descendants in Latin America. Her work has been commissioned by the City of Cleveland Per-cent for Art program and the Cleveland Museum of Art.

David Swanson, Landscape Architect, has over 25 years of experience in public and private sector work. His form emphasizes environment and sustainable landscape design with particular sensitivity to historic preservation. Notable projects include: Stormwater pond and green for the N.C. Museum of Art, the Rachel Carson Sculpture Garden and Prairie Ridge Ecostation for the N.C. Museum of Natural Science, the Visitor’s Education Center for the N.C. Botanical Garden in Chapel Hill and the site design for the N.C. Pottery Center in Seagrove.

The Artist Jury Committee

Victoria Gallagher – Associate Professor of Communication, NCSU.                                     Raleigh

Harvey Gantt – Architect. Charlotte

Harriett Green – Visual Arts, SC Arts Commission. Columbia, SC

Morgan Kenney – Sculptor, designer, architect. Bahama

Denny Mecham – Director, N.C. Pottery Center. Seagrove

Dan Millspaugh – Associate Professor of Art, UNC-Asheville.
                                Fairview

Richard Powell – Professor of Art History, Duke University.
                               Durham

Jimi Sutton – Art Educator. Elizabeth City

Belinda Tate – Director, Diggs Gallery, WSSU. Winston Salem, NC