Courtesy of Aubrey Carr | The Crow’s Nest
By Aubrey Carr
Students may have noticed a new artistic addition to the side of the University of South Florida St. Petersburg’s Piano Man building.
As part of the 2022 SHINE Mural Festival, the university welcomed Miami artist Reginald O’Neal to share a tribute to the Mundari tribe of South Sudan and historian John Henrik Clarke.
The black and white mural shows Clarke as the subject, overlaid on a background of the Mundari tribe cattle-herding, a traditional exploit for the people.
O’Neal told USF his inspiration behind the painting was the juxtaposition between the untouched Mundari tribe and Clarke, a pioneer in the field of Africana studies.
“This is somebody who I am really inspired by,” O’Neal said to USF. “Dr. John Henrik Clarke, somebody who is very forward thinking when it comes to Africa studies.”
Clarke was a professor of African studies for Hunter College and Cornell University, as well as a prominent activist during the 1960s’ Black Power movement.
An advocate for increased research on the African American experience, Clarke founded the African Heritage Studies Association and the first Black Caucus of the African Studies Association.
“I hope the reaction is that people do their research and dive into him as a person and him as a historian and do research about him and also about Africa,” O’Neal said.
Inspired by his older brother to begin art as a child, O’Neal never expected to pursue it as a career. He came to St. Petersburg as part of a month-long residency between his mentor’s organization Void Projects and the SHINE Mural Festival.
O’Neal uses photographs as reference for his pieces and said he tries to make his art realistic, without much detail. He described his art as “very gestural” in order for the painting to look as close to the image as possible.
“I really just hope it inspires people,” O’Neal said about his mural. “That’s the biggest thing for me, inspiration. I hope that I inspire other people.”
