NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – An artist in Nashville is sparking more than just conversations with his art.
“This is my way of celebrating them, in a way that if you drive by you have to see it,” Charles Jamersons Key said.
He’s behind several murals that highlights black women, who he says, have been overlooked and underappreciated.
“Sometimes you forget people, but a picture will make you remember those people.”
Key’s work can be found all over the city. He says he paints with intention.
“Use my hands to convey a message that’s nonverbal, and I want you to have that conversation with yourself.”
And if he can educate with that in mind — it’s a win in his book.
“I want to celebrate my people, and the people who raised me, the black woman is the cornerstone of the community.”
Simone Biles — Sha’Carri Richardson — Wilma Rudolph. All murals he’s painted to celebrate the history of the black woman.
“They have a voice, and sometimes this society suppress that.”
He says it’s a positive visual — a reminder of those women who led the way — and continue to do so.
“A lot of times we come together for a visual, or we come together because somebody got shot, and we letting balloons off, but here, this is a moment that we can celebrate and actually enjoy and actually understand, and it comes from art. And we all have art in us.”
You may wonder why he doesn’t have smaller versions for sale — It’s because the value of culture, the value of history — has no price tag.
“These are not collectibles that you can buy. This is for everybody to see, because that’s what I feel like needs to be seen and needs to be said. And this is my way of saying it.”
“Look at that and see the history in that. You will feel the history. You will hear those drums, and it’s something that’s beating in your chest, including yourself, that you’ve seen that, and it touched you. And that’s from your ancestry. It come it’s in your DNA.”
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