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This Land Then & Now: Conversations about the Culture and Ecology of the Black Belt

Saturday, February 7 at 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM

Overview

This Land Then & Now is a panel presentation exploring the Black Belt from three distinct perspectives: visual artist Philip Juras reimagines Southern grasslands, inviting viewers to look beyond the natural world; Dwayne Estes, the “Prairie Preacher,” will root us in the ecology, history, and biodiversity of Southeastern Grasslands; and Jasmyn Story will inform the audience of how they can support  Native land stewardship through case studies of their work with the movement called Life Comes From It. Moderated by Mark Wilson, the Director of the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities, this event will forge the connections between land, history, and culture.

Cost

This lecture program is free with the generous support of the Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All program.

For more information

Please contact Tiiwon Siaway at 334-625-4359 or email, tsiaway@mmfa.org.

Meet the Panel

Presenter of Land Acknowledgement:

Tori Nicole Jackson

Co-Founder and Vice President of Alabama Indigenous Coalition

Tori Nicole Jackson otherwise known as Tori Nicole Arts is a local artist and activist from central Alabama currently creating works of art inspired by culture, education, human consciousness, and balance. Inspired by her parent’s paintings, Tori’s passion for art began at an early age. During high school she began to participate in not only local, but nationwide contests and shows. In 2011 she went on to win a national gold medal for the Scholastic Art Competition in which her artwork was displayed in Carnegie Hall for 2 years, followed by an additional selection for the piece to be displayed in the Lyndon B. Johnson Museum. She then went on to pursue a degree in Psychology and Fine Art at Huntingdon College and during her stay she earned the title of Best Oil Painting during her Sophmore Year and participated in several student art shows. After earning a BA in both Psychology and Art, not long after graduation, Tori was offered a paid internship to learn the art of tattooing. During her apprenticeship, through travel and study she discovered her love of live painting. Since her discovery, she has been chosen to live paint for several events, including Hulaween, Sonic Bloom, Sound Haven and local art shows across the River Region. She also holds the title of Vice President and Co-founder of the Alabama Indigenous Coalition which later led Tori to hold place as the first Black Native American to be voted into the State Democratic Executive Committee as Vice Chair of the Native American Caucus in 2024. Jackson is currently focused on creating new works of art while being a mother, wife, and caseworker.

Moderator:

Mark Wilson, Ph.D.

Director of the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities at Auburn University

Originally from Saraland, Alabama, Mark Wilson is the director of the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts at Auburn University. He holds degrees from the University of Mobile (BA), Mercer University (Master of Divinity), and Auburn University (PhD, history). He is the author of William Owen Carver’s Controversies in the Baptist South (Mercer University) and co-author of Living Democracy: Students as Citizens, Communities as Classrooms (Kettering Foundation Press). Wilson has served as secretary of the Alabama Historical Association since 2007.

Jasmyn Elise Story

Founder and Executive Director of Freedom Farm Azul

Jasmyn Elise Story (they/them) is an international Restorative Justice Facilitator and Doula, and the founder of Honeycomb Justice and Freedom Farm Azul. Named one of Vice’s 31 People Making History by Creating a Better Future, they are a human rights activist with more than a decade of experience in the voluntary and public sectors.

Formerly serving as Deputy Director of Social Justice and Racial Equity for the Office of the Mayor of Birmingham, Jasmyn worked at the intersection of policy, community engagement, and equity-centered systems change.

After completing their M.A. in Human Rights at University College London, they are currently pursuing a Ph.D. at Tuskegee University as a third-generation student. Their work centers restorative justice, community healing, and systems change rooted in dignity, land, and collective liberation.

Dwayne Estes, Ph.D.

Co-Founder and Executive Director of Southeastern Grasslands Institute 

 Dwayne Estes serves as executive director at SGI. He is a Full Professor of Biology, Director of the APSU Herbarium, and Principal Investigator for the Center of Excellence for Field Biology. In 2016, he co-founded SGI with Theo Witsell. Under his leadership, they have raised $45 million. He has been active in building diverse support for Southeastern US grasslands conservation, from national to local levels and across the Southeast he is often called the “Prairie Preacher.” PBS Appalachia Virginia won an Emmy for Best Documentary titled “The Prairie Preacher” highlighting SGI’s work. He works with the Volgenau Climate Initiative as chair of the America’s Grasslands Coalition. Dwayne’s research interests include the biodiversity, ecology, history, and biogeography of the Southeastern U.S. with emphasis on grasslands and open woodlands.

Philip Juras

Visual Artist 

Philip Juras’s paintings express his desire to both explore and understand the patterns of the natural world. His love for nature and art began during his childhood in Augusta, Georgia, eventually leading him to receive a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1990 and a Master of Landscape Architecture in 1997, both from the University of Georgia. His MLA thesis examined grasslands that flourished in the southeast before European settlement, a subject that continues to inspire his artwork. Now living in Athens, Georgia, Philip explores the rich aesthetics of a wide range of ecologically intact natural environments. His recent projects include Georgia’s barrier islands, fire-adapted landscapes of the Southeast, tallgrass prairie restoration in Illinois, and the páramo and cloud forests of the Colombian Andes. To depict these subjects Philip combines direct observation with study of the natural science and history of the place. The resulting images invite the viewer to step through the picture plane and experience the natural world beyond. 

Above: Philip Juras (American, born 1967), Black Belt Prairie c. 1775, Montgomery County, Alabama, 2009, oil on canvas, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Gift of Dr. Claiborne Van Cortlandt Glover III and Dr. Susan Guttman, 2025.1

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