Keir Johnston, lifelong Newtown Friends Meeting member and award-winning Philadelphia artist and muralist, will speak on “A Practice of Action: Supporting Communities with Creative Expressions,” at historic Newtown Friends Meetinghouse at 219 Court St., at 9:45 a.m. Sunday, March 27.
For information, visit newtownfriendsmeeting.org.
A former artist-in-residence for The Philadelphia Museum of Art and co-founder of Amber Art and Design based in Philadelphia, Johnston has been involved for nearly 20 years in creative social practice and collaboration in the arts in Philadelphia.
He will be accompanied by Sean Connolly, director of the Historic Arch Street Meetinghouse Trust, who will speak about the collaborative creation of a new piece of public art by Johnston that will be installed on the Arch Street Meetinghouse grounds this spring or summer.
Johnston is a community practice public art creator who has dedicated his career to elevating social issues that impact communities of color through public art.
He painted his first mural as a teenager while a student at California State University at Northridge, an experience that fostered an appreciation for the collaborative creative process as well as public art’s ability to affect viewers from all walks of life.
Johnston has helped guide diverse populations – including incarcerated youth, prisoners serving life sentences, elderly groups, elementary and high school students, and those with disabilities – in mural production, and has worked with Mural Arts Philadelphia to create Colorful Legacy, Remembering a Forgotten Hero, and The Color of Your Voice.
A founding member of Amber Art & Design, Johnston has served as the artist-in-residence for The Philadelphia Museum of Art, The National Museum of American Jewish History, Mural Arts Philadelphia, The Village of Arts and Humanities, and University of Chicago’s Place Lab, Living Arts of Tulsa and others.
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