Stax Records officially began in 1960. A company, that evolved from Satellite Records three years prior, the Stax Museum formed in the late 90’s. A group of community leaders, philanthropists and former Stax employees formed the Soulsville Foundation, to revitalize the area, provide mentoring and music-focused educational opportunities for neighborhood children, and open a museum to tell the Stax story.
The Soulsville Foundation is the parent organization for the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, the Stax Music Academy and the Soulsville Charter School. On July 17th, “Stax: Visions of Soul,” opens at the legendary facility. Created by visual artist Souleo, here’s a description and the journey of the exhibit, in his own words:
“Almost three years after my curatorial debut at Strivers Gardens Gallery (courtesy of Lisa D. Hayes, ESQ) I am elated to announce my first museum exhibition! As noted in the above flyer the exhibition will be held at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis, TN.
The exhibition debuted in Harlem, NY during the summer of 2013 as part of the multi-gallery visual art experience Motown to Def Jam, presented in partnership with ArtCrawl Harlem, La Maison d’Art, The Sol Studio, Strivers Gardens Gallery, and LeRoy Neiman Art Center. Stax: Visions of Soul features select works from the original exhibition along with newly commissioned work. The works were created in response to socially conscious music from the Stax catalog by recording artists including Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Mable John, and The Staple Singers.
A very special thank you to all of the artists, fellow curators, friends, and family that have supported my various endeavors to get to this point. Give me a holla if you’ll be in Memphis for the opening on Friday, July 17, 6-8pm!
Best,
Souleo”
SOULEO’S website… http://souleouniverse.com/2015/06/my-first-museum-exhibition/
STAX MUSEUM website… http://staxmuseum.com
Stax on Facebook… https://www.facebook.com/staxrecords?fref=tsp
for the love of Stax, Soul and FUNK
c-dub
