In Bloomington, Indiana, an African-American artist is understandably in a different setting, and this one is coming from a different perspective.
Using oil paints with bold brush strokes that come at you rough in texture but soft in detail, the artwork sometimes seems to extend onto the frame. A jazz saxophonist steps out of a mist of deep blue. A musician at a piano plays in a garden filled with
the colors and fruits of his roots. A man extends a polite greeting to a couple of ladies walking by. Striking in their dress, you can imagine the flirtatious conversation.
A painting titled, "Let Me Entertain You," is in retrospect of Blacks singing and dancing in a blood red background as they put on a show for an imagined, oppresive audience. The artist, Wayne Manns, explains that we have been singing and dancing for hundreds of years with a little of our blood thrown in.
Miles Davis contemplates. A naked woman sprawls out on a canvas.
He hasn't been painting very long, but across the country, people such as Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Milt Jackson, and Calvin Keys are already collecting his work.
Manns is inspired by everything that he has ever seen. "The masters, Beardon, Lawrence, Van Gogh, Matisse," he said, "my family, our colorings, the notes I heard I see in bright colors. What is subtle, yellow or pink, I try to make it more than what the eye sees. No, I'm not afraid of color. You notice when a child paints or draws, they choose any colors they want, that's what I want to do. I want to be a conduit and let God's inspiration speak through me. That's the color I'm going to put down."
Manns' home is literally his studio. His paintings and love for music define his interior.
Old photos of jazz greats are intertwined with paintings of the artists he loves. A piano sits quietly in the living room.
Paintings of a keyboard, a horn, a mood, speak to you from every wall in this humble abode. His paintbrushes and pigments are in harmony with the dishes, table and countertops in the kitchen. No space is wasted.
He walks through his domain in a calm demeanor, seemingly untouched by the tragedies of life. But that is a striking contradiction. He is very direct when speaking. His thoughts are open and unassuming. An avid jazz lover, he can quickly recall any given artist and name their music.
Manns was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Musicians have surrounded Manns all his life. His father, Sam Manns, was a popular jazz pianist in New Jersey and Manns played professionally.
Manns moved to Bloomington from San Francisco. There, he was active in community projects. "Culture on the Corner" was a program directed by civic leader Mel Simmons for inner city kids. There, mentors taught music, tutored, and gave them life skills.
The program was started, with no funds, to give what he termed "throw away kids," children that society had discarded, something constructive to do for the summer. Several artists took on mural projects.
Wayne worked with about 20 kids in the summer of 1997 painting a mural on the wall of the Rosa Parks Elementary School in the San Francisco Unified School District. "They chose their own Black heroes, Rosa Parks, Booker T. Washington, Malcolm X, and Mart
in Luther King, Jr. We had a big dedication, Rosa Parks came, and they got to meet her," he said.
The organization received an award for "Best New Mural" by the Presidio Eyes Foundation.
What may sound like a small accomplishment turned out to be quite an achievement. "Murals are really big in San Francisco, and that award is traditionally dominated by the Latino community," he said, "so we were very pleased. I'm looking to do something
like that here."
He is now in the process of getting his work transferred to greeting cards that will become available in 1999. And he has designed a CD cover for Life Force Records, for well-known guitarist Calvin Keys.
When asked how he shipwrecked in Southern Indiana, he explains simply, "I followed a woman here, but I have come to love this place." Living in Bloomington gives one a sense of anonymity, a haven of sorts. In the city where Indiana University defines ut
opia, Manns has found his comfort zone.
