ARTS

Not Fade Away ARTS By Jesse Davis

A Very Tasteful Food Blog

Lawrence Matthews’ “To Disappear Away.”

hotographer, painter, and performer Lawrence Matthews III knows how to keep himself busy. Matthews recently completed a mural at Orange Mound Community Center as part of UrbanArt Commission’s District Mural Program. And in 2019, under his hip-hop moniker Don Lifted, Matthews took his Sub-Urban Tour to venues across the country. He’s an artist who understands the close link between medium and message, and that understanding is borne out in his photography exhibition “To Disappear Away (Places Soon to Be No More),” on view at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens through Sunday, April 5th.

“I went to school for studio arts,” says Matthews, who graduated from the University of Memphis. “I did sculpture. I did painting, photography.

“Growing up, we did everything. We skated, we played basketball, we made music, we made art, we filmed the things we were doing,” Matthews explains. “I make different types of music, too. I make music under Don Lifted, and I make music under Lawrence Matthews.”

For “To Disappear Away,” Matthews uses his camera lens to draw attention to African-American spaces in the community. “I have these three or four themes: disappearance, nature, space, and abandonment,” Matthews says of his photography. These themes are nothing new to the prolific performer and artist — that hyphen in Don Lifted’s Sub-Urban Tour is no accident. “I made a film about gentrification before, but it was very specific and dug into the school systems, whereas this body of work was based around this surreal theme based around gentrification and displacement.”

Matthews’ work is made all the more compelling because nothing is staged. His photos capture real spaces in the world and force the viewer to ask questions about disparity. What P

For Sale (above), part of “To Disappear Away (Places Soon to Be No More),” shows a hand-painted billboard advertising an unkown product; Lawrence Matthews III (right)

happens when a community’s environment works against the people who inhabit it?

The photos on view in “To Disappear Away” appear surreal — even more so when the World Health Organization has declared the coronavirus COVID-19 an international pandemic. But these mesmerizing photos of crumbling infrastructure, nature reclaiming furniture, and abandoned vehicles were taken months before COVID-19 traveled to American shores. They were simply taken in underserved neighborhoods.

“It became a thing and then became abandoned,” Lawrence says, pointing to a photo of the kids on bikes cruising through an empty parking lot. “Now it’s this open, sprawling space that people are inhabiting that isn’t natural, that doesn’t blend in with what they’re doing, that doesn’t serve them in any kind of way. People don’t dig up their parking lots and lay grass back.”

So how does Matthews intend to combat gentrification and change the trajectory of generational wealth? “By making beautiful, surreal, and fantastical photos.” Lawrence Matthews’ “To Disappear Away (Places Soon to Be No More)” is on view at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens through Sunday, April 5th. As of press time, the Dixon will be closed, beginning Tuesday, March 17th, and through Monday, March 30th, at which time the museum’s leadership will re-evaluate the situation.

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PUBLIC NOTICE SHELBY COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING PROPOSED FY 2021 ANNUAL ACTION PLAN (JULY 1, 2020 – JUNE 30, 2021)

The Shelby County Department of Housing (SCDH) has prepared the proposed Program Year 2020 Annual Action Plan for the period from July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021 for Shelby County Fiscal Year 2021. This plan is required by the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the receipt of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnerships Program Entitlement funds. The Proposed Annual Plan describes activities proposed by SCDH to address housing and community development needs, especially needs in low- to moderate- income areas of Shelby County outside of the City of Memphis.

SCDH was notified of CDBG and HOME allocation amounts and is basing this proposed plan on actual allocation amounts as follows: $1,197,084.00 in CDBG funds, $650,000.00 in CDBG Prior Year Unallocated funds, $10,000.00 in CDBG Program income, $417,723.00 in HOME grant funds, $150,000.00 in HOME Prior Year Unallocated Funds, $15,000.00 in HOME program income, and $93,987.68 in local match funds for use during Shelby County’s Fiscal Year 2021. The following table summarizes resources and expenditures in this Proposed Annual Plan:

Anticipated Resources CDBG HOME Total Funds Allocation $ 1,197,084.00 $ 417,723.00 $ 1,614,807.00 Prior Year Unallocated $ 650,000.00 $ 150,000.00 $ 800,000.00 Match $ - $ 93,987.68 $ 93,987.68 Program income $ 10,000.00 $ 15,000.00 $ 25,000.00 TOTAL AVAILABLE $ 1,857,084.00 $ 676,710.68 $ 2,533,794.68

Project Name CDBG HOME TOTAL Housing Rehab/Minor Home Repair $ 350,000.00 $ 572,279.93 $ 922,279.93 CHDO Set-aside $ - $ 62,658.45 $ 62,658.45 Community Development/Infrastructure Projects $ 750,000.00 $ - $ 750,000.00 Public Service $ 50,000.00 $ - $ 50,000.00 Program Delivery $ 210,000.00 $ - $ 210,000.00 Administration and Planning $ 239,416.80 $ 41,772.30 $ 281,189.10 TOTAL $ 1,599,416.80 $ 676,710.68 $ 2,276,127.48

The Proposed Annual Plan for July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021 will be available for public review from April 1, 2020 through April 30, 2020 at the Shelby County Department of Housing, 1075 Mullins Station Road, Memphis, Tennessee 38134 Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Additionally, these documents will be available at the following library branches in Shelby County if they are open to the public: Benjamin Hooks Central Library, Arlington Library, Bartlett Library, Collierville Library, Germantown Library and Millington Library and by clicking on the Reports and Plans link under the Department of Housing webpage on the Shelby County website at http://www.shelbycountytn.gov/388/Housing. In the event that Shelby County Government and/or libraries are closed to the public, the Proposed Annual Action Plan for Program Year 2020 will still be publicly available electronically at the link above.

In order to solicit public comments on the Proposed Annual Action Plan SCDH will hold an in-person public hearing at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21, 2020 at the Shelby County Code Enforcement, Training Room, 6465 Mullins Station Road Memphis, TN 38134. The training room can be accessed directly from the parking lot west of the Code Enforcement building. Attendees should park and follow the signage that leads to the training room. . In addition to an in-person public hearing, there will be two virtual public hearings; Wednesday, April 22, 2020 at 11:00am and Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 5:30pm. To join the virtual hearings go to this web address https://zoom.us/j/3793977959 and dial (301) 715-8592. If you plan to attend the public hearings and have special needs, please contact the Department of Housing at (901) 222-7601 by Tuesday, April 14, 2020 and we will work to accommodate you. In the event that Shelby County Government is closed to the public at the time of the in-person public hearing, the hearing will be canceled. The virtual public hearings will still be conducted even if Shelby County Government is closed to the public.

For those unable to attend the public hearings, written comments will be accepted through 4:30 p.m. on May 1, 2020. Written comments should be addressed to Ms. Sydney Wright (Sydney.wright@shelbycountytn. gov), Shelby County Department of Housing, 1075 Mullins Station Road, Memphis, TN 38134. SCDH will respond to written comments within five working days of their receipt. For questions concerning the Program Year 2020 Proposed Action Plan, please contact the Department of Housing at 901- 222-7600 or TTY at 901- 222-2300.

Para mas información en español, por favor llame al 901-222-3993.

The Shelby County Department of Housing does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age or disability in employment or provision of services. Equal opportunity/equal access provider.

Lee Harris Shelby County Mayor