Jerome Meadows: Sculptor of Neglected History

Savannah has always been an art city. It has one of the oldest theaters in the South and the oldest Art Museum in the South along with other things will always make Savannah in the conversation of one of the great historical art centers of the South and the Nation. Savannah even has one of the more renown art schools in the Nation (Savannah College of Art and Design). Savannah is definitely making its mark in the art world. We also currently have two of the most sought-after sculptors in the Nation: Jerome Meadows and Susie Chisholm.  

What is interesting is neither were educated from SCAD our prominent local art school. They also have many other differences to mark how they came to be leaders in Savannah’s art community. Meadows was professionally trained at the acclaimed RISD, Chisholm took a local class on sculpting and was hooked. Meadows started as a young man and Chisholm started a sculpting career as a second career. Their styles are very different Chisholm is a hyper realist sculptor and Jerome is more stylish sculptor and offers an interpretation of some place or event. Chisholm’s studio can be found in the prominent City Market, home of many artist studios. Meadows’s studio is in old ice plant in a poor primarily black neighborhood. These two sculptors have work in Savannah and contributed to the culture of art that is Savannah.  So, in my next two blogs I will look at each respectively. Because of the fact both are still alive and sculpting and inventing I risk being challenged in my interpretations of their work. It is always much easier to write about the dead who cannot critique your work than to write about the living who can defend themselves against -you por writing. But it is with that caveat I would like to introduce you to the Sculptor and Artist Jerome Meadows.
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Jerome Meadows is originally from New Yok City. He moved to Savannah in 1997 where he resides and works in an old icehouse in the East side of Savannah. He has a BFA degree from the Rhode Island School of Design and a MFA from the University of Maryland. He has held teaching positions at the University of Maryland, College Park, Howard University, the College of Charleston, Maryland Institute College of Art. He was also the recipient of a Fulbright-Hayes study tour of Pakistan, traveling throughout the country with other educators and artists while studying traditional crafts and processes.

 His public work involves the design of large-scale public art projects. This would include the site layout, landscaping, along with including sculptural elements to complement the whole design. One of his most accomplished works is the Portsmouth, NH African Burying Ground in 2013. It was awarded NEA Art Works Grant for “The creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence”. His most recent work is found in Chattanooga. It is called the Ed Johnson Project. Johnson was lynched from the Walnut Street Bridge in 1906 after falsely being accused of rape. Despite multiple witnesses testifying to his innocence and a stay of execution delivered from the U.S. Supreme Court, an angry mob broke into the Hamilton County Jail and hanged Johnson from the bridge. 115 years after an angry mob lynched Ed Johnson from the Walnut Street Bridge Meadow’s work was unveiled on September 19, 2021.
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Of course, a project of this sort requires education and an awareness of the events. During the construction. Meadows led poetry workshops with Chattanooga public school students to write poems of their feelings about the event. He also did many interviews and lectures about the work. The work has been acclaimed across the nation.
He of course has other public works in places such as Silver Springs Armory in Maryland, Washington D. C, (as seen above)

​Below are a few of the projects he has worked on across the nation. Here in Savannah, he has worked on two public art projects. The Yamacraw Project seen below. This project I featured in my book Savannah’s Monuments: The Untold Stories. But much to the shame of the city it was vandalized and the City of Savannah has not repaired or offered a security plan to prevent future vandalism.

Meadows besides his many public projects is creating art of assemblages, large and small sculptures all the time. But at his heart he seems to enjoy his projects that involve the public. He said,” The beauty of public art, is that it’s not just one person calling the shots, you’re sitting at a table with a committee of people; it’s a whole other ball game. Fewer ass holes, good money to be made, and scale. I could now work in materials and sizes I could never afford before and after it’s done it has a permanent place. These projects were related to the social fabric. At the time the civil rights movement was in full swing, and the notion was that if you weren’t part of the solution, you were part of the problem. So, the question was presented to me, “Was I going to continue making work for the elite (commercial galleries) or for the community (public art)?”  A project he did with the Telfair Museums involved where he curated the Telfair collection juxtaposed with pieces of art he created for the occasion to engage the audience with new views of how to see the art.
 
As he states in his artist statement,” Art transports us from the comparatively limited domain of our mundane obligations into an ever-expanding realm of engaging possibilities - informing, inspiring and elevating us all.” Meadow’s work has challenged the nation and Savannah Community to remember and rethink the events of our collective history elevating us all. We are fortunate to have his influence and offerings here in Savannah. 

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Yamacraw Art Project