Memphis Artist, Stacey Johnson has created this Exclusive, one of a kind piece of artwork, inspired by A Lee Dog Story and Tom Lee’s incredible story that took place in Memphis in 1925.
“Reaching beyond colors, status and other boundaries to save each other.” – Stacey Johnson
Featured Artist
STACEY JOHNSON
My friend, Bob Pierce, a local Memphis photographer took a photograph of the most heavenly view of the statue at Tom Lee Park. It was almost Holy the way the statue floated against a dramatic river sunset. I always wanted to paint it.
I’ve loved the story – a man of color using a wooden boat to save the lives of mostly white passengers on the overturned ME Norman. When push came to shove, colors disappeared and saving life was all that mattered. Tom Lee’s legacy in the city of Memphis is highly regarded.
Fast forward to when a son of a friend, Zach Waters, was appealing to local artists to create pieces of art to be sold as prints to raise money to fund tiny houses for the homeless among us. No color, no gender, just a hand reaching out into the cold reality of homelessness. Just like the Tom Lee story of 1925.
So, I called my piece The Spirit of Memphis. There will always be those who hate and define humanity by race and status. But the Memphis I adore has the spirit of love and lifting each other up out of the cold swirling waters. Thank you, Zach, for giving me space to tell the world who Memphians are in this artistic offering.
We are resilient, full of love and just crazy enough to think we can save each other, one kind gesture at a time.
Stacey Johnson is an extremely inspired native Memphian and a mother of three sons and step-mother to three adult daughters and one son-in-law. Her painting style is primarily self-taught and reflects her love for color, movement and texture. Stacey has taken a non-conventional road to find her highest artistic expression; including high school and college art classes which planted the seeds that would bloom much later into her present expressions within her arts community.
Being an artist is a dream deferred for Stacey and she approaches the canvas with the same wholehearted energy that she does her life.
“Reaching beyond colors, status and other boundaries to save each other.” – Stacey Johnson
Featured Artist
STACEY JOHNSON
My friend, Bob Pierce, a local Memphis photographer took a photograph of the most heavenly view of the statue at Tom Lee Park. It was almost Holy the way the statue floated against a dramatic river sunset. I always wanted to paint it.
I’ve loved the story – a man of color using a wooden boat to save the lives of mostly white passengers on the overturned ME Norman. When push came to shove, colors disappeared and saving life was all that mattered. Tom Lee’s legacy in the city of Memphis is highly regarded.
Fast forward to when a son of a friend, Zach Waters, was appealing to local artists to create pieces of art to be sold as prints to raise money to fund tiny houses for the homeless among us. No color, no gender, just a hand reaching out into the cold reality of homelessness. Just like the Tom Lee story of 1925.
So, I called my piece The Spirit of Memphis. There will always be those who hate and define humanity by race and status. But the Memphis I adore has the spirit of love and lifting each other up out of the cold swirling waters. Thank you, Zach, for giving me space to tell the world who Memphians are in this artistic offering.
We are resilient, full of love and just crazy enough to think we can save each other, one kind gesture at a time.
Stacey Johnson is an extremely inspired native Memphian and a mother of three sons and step-mother to three adult daughters and one son-in-law. Her painting style is primarily self-taught and reflects her love for color, movement and texture. Stacey has taken a non-conventional road to find her highest artistic expression; including high school and college art classes which planted the seeds that would bloom much later into her present expressions within her arts community.
Being an artist is a dream deferred for Stacey and she approaches the canvas with the same wholehearted energy that she does her life.
“Reaching beyond colors, status and other boundaries to save each other.” – Stacey Johnson
At A Lee Dog Story, we believe that art is incredibly powerful and helps to connect and celebrate community, showcase values, and embrace the humanity of all people. In order to change the current paradigm on homelessness in Memphis and around the country, we will come together as a community to learn more about the humanity of those experiencing homelessness through a variety of artistic mediums.
