Family First: Hold My Crown

Hold My Crown is a workshop honoring fathers and father figures in our lives. Artist Jean Michel Basquiat took a simple crown and transformed it into an iconic symbol, used to show black men as saints and kings. He often used crowns in his artwork to honor his influencers and heroes, including other artists, writers, groundbreaking athletes, and musicians.

In this workshop, participants will create two paper crowns. The first will be inspired by the crown Basquiat often used in his work, gold with a bold black outline. The second crown will require participants to lean on their creativity, as they decorate their personalized crowns with a variety of coloring materials.

All participants will leave the workshop with two crowns, one creatively made for themselves and one that honors fathers/father figures in their lives.

Family First is presented by Novant Health

Shawn Michael Glover is an artist, educator, and designer from Orangeburg, SC. He has a BFA from the University of South Carolina, with a concentration in Graphic Design. Shawn was a graphic artist for Lionel Trains in Concord, NC for three years, then chose to become a full-time teacher. He teaches high school visual art for Cabarrus County schools. Within his own artwork, you will find themes such as race, identity, duality, and more. Shawn focuses largely on human figures in his work, specifically African American men. He uses a wide variety of media and techniques, including collage, printmaking, drawing, painting, assemblage, and more to explore his ideas and themes of focus. Shawn pulls from his experiences, global art history, and current events to inform his personal artwork and academic lessons. Learn more about Shawn at shawnmglover.com or @radiant.kingg.