Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Sheldon.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
In 1994, I received a phone call from the Attorney General’s office in Jackson, MS, asking if I would consult in the re-trial of Byron de la Beckwith for the murder of civil rights icon Medgar Evers. Since learning that Beckwith had been acquitted by an all white, all male jury at his first trial and had roamed free ever since as a lawyer, I was shocked and disgusted. The acquittal of Beckwith in 1964 was instrumental in letting African Americans in Mississippi, but also nationwide, know that the doors of America’s courtrooms were closed to people of color. Now as a trial consultant, I was able to assist the state. The case was difficult because it was so old. Some witnesses were dead; others were hard to locate. Through the efforts of the District Attorney, the case was tried in Jackson and Beckwith was found guilty. (The emotional impact of this verdict was huge and widespread and can be experienced through the movie Ghosts of Mississippi with Whoopi Goldberg, James Wood and Alec Baldwin.) I had the honor and good fortune of consulting in seven more cases after this one to include the firebombing killing of Vernon Dahmer in Hattiesburg, the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham that killed four girls and the Klan murders of Goodman, Schwerner and Chaney in Philadelphia, MS. Today, 20 years after the last of these trials, I have created a series of paintings documenting my personal search for racial justice. Titled “Heartbreak and Healing”, the collection of a dozen large paintings has been exhibited twice and reviewed in Forbes Magazine.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road by any stretch. The painful internal reckoning with the aftermath of these lynchings and the racial violence that is part of our American story has involved a determined progression, a continual search to the heart of the matter. My progress with each painting has been full of fits and starts, stops and re-starts, as I delved into personal responses to the effects of this violence on the families of the victims and on the prosecutors who risked their professional careers to try the Klansmen.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I began painting a decade ago after spending a career in law and psychology. The transition from the dry intellectual pursuit that is the law to the more emotional pursuit that is art, while difficult at first, soon became a welcome home for me. I am most proud of taking the time and devoting the energy to undertaking the intensely personal journey involved in creating “Heartbreak and Healing.” Certainly, I am proud of my involvement in prosecuting the Klansmen in the eight cases and that legal work formed the basis of the art that followed. But I am most proud of finding a way to express through art some of the thoughts and feelings about the racial violence I had encountered. Before I began the search for a way to express intense emotions through art, I painted portraits and landscapes. Painting a beautiful landscape provides a welcome relief from the intensity of the anger and rage and sadness and grief expressed in “Heartbreak and Healing.”
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
I hope that the collection of paintings can be the stimulus for conversations about race and racial violence. To have the collection exhibited in gallerys, in universities, as part of programs devoted to discussing racial issues is my goal. I have solicited support in the past year in the form of funding and exhibits and have been fortunate to have received important contributions. However, due to the expense involved in creating the artwork, I remain in need of funding and contacts from people interested in promoting the work.
Contact Info:
- Email: andrewmsheldon50@gmail.com
- Website: www.andrewsheldonart.com
- Instagram:@andrewsheldon50
- Facebook: SheldonCivilRightsPaintings
- Other: An electronic flipbook of “Heartbreak and Healing” may be found here: https://designrr.page?id=76657&token=1480506462&h=6386
