Co-Founders of Juxtaposition Arts (JXTA) • Select words & quotes by Maya Beck
"I fully believe that art, creativity and culture is where you ARE, not hidden away in a museum far away."
"Real innovation is fraught with conflict."
To make real change, JXTA involves the community. Simply talking with neighbors goes a long way. JXTA keeps it casual, sending kids to chat with people they meet on the street. The surveys are simple, direct and random, but also strategic—the questions keenly tuned to the rich texture of the neighborhood.
JXTA supplies a vital pipeline of community problem-solvers into the lifeblood of the entire metro area. More than half of the students are black, and more than half reside in North Minneapolis, but they represent a broad range of subcultures, interests, gender identities, ethnicities, social classes—even styles of learning and communicating.
JXTA goes to the community instead of asking the community to come to it, inviting residents and business owners to influence its creative work. For its collaborative project “ReMix: Creating Places for People on West Broadway,” JXTA sent its young artists out with urban planning students to interview pedestrians on sidewalks, at bus stops and in other everyday spaces. They spent hundreds of hours on the street, engaging community members and listening to suggestions and complaints.
But JXTA is thriving, and North Minneapolis is following its lead. Its success stems from the belief that instead of going outside for help, organizations should start with what they have and who they are. Rather than waiting for some time in the future when it becomes “good enough,” it values what it has and who it is. JXTA knows it’s good enough.
These affirming beliefs constitute the backbone of community-driven projects like ReMix, as well as the personal art of its students and teachers. Confidence in its work and worth allows JXTA to withstand the conflict inherent in creation. It partners intelligently, rather than accepting all deals. JXTA knows itself well enough to know what it offers and what it needs.
JXTA believes that art and culture are not separate from the people and should be where people are, and it believes that art is for everyone.
JXTA’s work is necessarily connected to social and economic justice as well. Situating a creative arts center and gallery in the middle of North Minneapolis was an act of boldness.
Not all of them will remain artists, but all retain the confidence and skills JXTA teaches. These students are anything but at-risk youth. They have gone on to study at Harvard and Minneapolis College of Art and Design, intern with architectural firms, work for policy change as part of the government and hold their own art exhibitions.
By investing in young people, JXTA challenges the assumption that they can’t impact the world.
DeAnna compares JXTA’s students to the young leaders of current and prior civil rights movements. The only people with the energy, exuberance, freedom and optimism to change the world are the young, she explains. In fact, she believes that “nothing really revolutionary has ever happened anywhere without the participation and leadership of young people.”
