Artist Journey Allen
Muralist. Arts Educator. Mentor. Community Visionary.
Artist Mission: To use creativity as a revolutionary tool to educate, inspire, and cultivate the well-being of the collective by centering the healing of the Black child, their families, and their communities.
Artist Vision: My creative work awakens the dormant energy of our youth leaders who shall go on to develop and contribute to sustainable communities where poverty, injustice, and heinous crimes no longer reside.
Select Mural Works
"Fresh Food is Liberation"
New Orleans East Business Complex, 2020
Completed with Living School New Orleans Art students and community members, this project was piloted in an effort to address the lack of fresh and healthy food options available to New Orleans East Residents.
"Innocent Until Proven Guilty: Our Mothers are not Inmates
Mural Installation Commissioned by Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition, 2021
In collaboration with Carpenter, Ross Harmon and Living School Art Students, this project was created to give voice to ending cash bail. It captures the true story of a mother who encountered an incident during Mardi Gras season that ultimately swallows her family into the cycle of recidivism as she jailed. Unable to pay bail, she leaves her teenaged son and young daughter to fend for themselves.
"Colors of Our Culture"
New Orleans East Public Library, 2022
As the Lead Artist for the Young Artist Movement Program, I works with their youth artist to develop and execute the design fro the New Orleans East Beautification Project led by Arts New Orleans and the New Orleans Business Alliance.
"Sacred Crowns:
The Crown Act Mural"
Commissioned by Dove, Joy Collective, and
Arts New Orleans, 2022
This mural celebrates "The Crown Act" which seeks to combat discrimination in the classroom and workplace in regards to hairstyles worn by Black women and men, boys and girls.
"My Beautiful Dream for New Orleans"
Juvenile Justice Intervention Center (JJIC), 2022
Through my work with Arts New Orleans, I served as the Lead Artist on this mural project where 12 beautiful youth detained at the facility explored the process of mural making for the first time and contributed to both the designing and painting of the project.
"A Place to Rest and Dream"
Hotel Hope: A Mother's and Children's Housing Facility, 2022
This campus was beautified with two inspiring murals and vibrant colors with the intention of welcoming residents to the facility and encouraging them to dream. In 2023, the protract was made comply by a Candyland path painted by Spectrum Arts NOLA emerging teen artists.
"From Graveyards To Gardens"
Juvenile Justice Intervention Center, 2023
Through my role as the Director of youth Education with Arts New Orleans and their Young Artist Movement Program, I supported the talented students detained at the JJIC facility in designing and painting a mural along the transitional corridor that they wanted to reflect the story of who they once were and who they were aspiring to become.
"Trading Chaos for Creativity: Discovering the Mindfulness of Mural Making"
In Progress at Juvenile Justice Intervention Center, 2024
Supported by the Platforms Fund, this intentional journey of mural making offers our youth detained at the JJIC Facility an opportunity to discover the art of mindfulness and sacred mural making. Through meditation practices founded by peace activist Thich What Hang along with the exploration of Kehinde Wiley's Archaeology of Silence, Jean Lacy's stained glass windows, John Biggers' African-centered works, the bronze sculptures of Benin, and the jarring new-expressionism works of Jean-Michel Basquiat, we will paint their chapel/community space with images that seek to interpret the students' ideas of sacredness.
Kwanzaa 365 Supported by Tulane University's Newcomb Art Museum
Community Platform: Juvenile Justice Intervention Center, 2024
Supported by Tulane University Newcomb Museum and organized/facilitated by Artist Journey Allen this installation of KWANZAA 365 was a time of innovation, creation and motivation as 5 community organizations were welcomed into the Juvenile Justice Intervention Center for a day of learning and exploring with the youth detained at JJIC. A total of 20 students were seated at stations of 3 to 4 students as they rotated between each organization and its activity in 30 minute intervals. Offerings included digital art, robotics, music production with GarageBand, healing arts, and mindfulness practices. Each station incorporated two Kwanzaa Principles into their curriculum: Umoja (Unity) and Kujichagulia (Self-Determination). Additionally Journey painted a mural instillation with two JJIC youth throughout the entirety of the event. Following this exploratory learning experience, a closing circle was held where each participant expressed their gratitude for being present, making this activity a testament to the impact that could occur in even a short period of time if the intention and environment is focused on the betterment of our youth despite any previous challenges or heinous circumstances they may have previously encountered.
Spectrum School of Visual Arts and Entrepreneurship
IG: Spectrum Arts NOLA, Founded in 2023
Following my 15 years of experience as an Arts Educator who developed and facilitated virtual arts curriculum in traditional, homeschool, and community-based settings, I overheard a conversation between after school students that were fed up with our local school system and dreaming up plans for an equitable art school. This conversation led to me founding Spectrum School of Visual Arts and Entrepreneurship, one month late. In the Fall of 2023, I piloted this endeavor for Black youth with an interest in pursuing visual arts as a career. With mindfulness workshops/activities, plant-based meals prepared by my wife @HighHealDoula, we offer a real-world, real-time interdisciplinary homeschool high school curriculum that intertwines grade level course work with fine art experiences, entrepreneurship, nature-based learning, and holistic practices. The intention is to serve the whole child as they navigate a self-paced learning on the way to discovering the authenticity of their highest and truest self.