City of Rocky Mount
The City of Rocky Mount has partnered with the Black Light Project (BLP) to create eight, permanent, large-scale photographic installations in multiple prominent public locations around the city, ranging in size from 20×20 feet to 20×60 feet.
Based in Greenville, NC, the Black Light Project is a creative partnership of founder and director Tonya Jefferson Lynch and photographers Bryce Chapman and Randy Curtis. BLP is designed to challenge the media’s common, and often negative, narrative about Black men by highlighting the positive narratives of real, everyday Black males who are the rule, not the exception. These men are fathers, brothers, husbands, sons, friends, and neighbors who light the world with kindness, fearlessness, perseverance, love, strength, and humanity.
This public art installation is an outgrowth of a 2020 exhibit that was curated in partnership with Rocky Mount’s Imperial Centre for the Arts and Sciences. Utilizing community engagement and a public nomination process, the project tells the stories of these everyday heroes. Based on a variety of narratives, subjects were chosen for the installation and the final work includes a mix of full color, and black and white images, that are graphically enhanced.
The community engagement process was facilitated in partnership with the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Nash-Edgecombe Economic Development Inc., Rocky Mount/Edgecombe Community Development Corporation, and Rocky Mount Mills. All the locations for the installations are managed by the City of Rocky Mount’s Parks and Recreation Department, with the exception of Rocky Mount Mills. Nash County sites include the Imperial Centre for the Arts and Sciences, the Rocky Mount Mills, and South Rocky Mount Community Center. Edgecombe County sites include R. M. Wilson Gymnasium, Booker T. Washington Community Center and Stith-Talbot Park.
In 2018, the City of Rocky Mount partnered BLP to create a portrait exhibition at the Imperial Center for Arts and Sciences. Photo courtesy of BLP.
Filming is underway for the “Meet the Artists” episode. Photo courtesy of Alicyn Wiedrich
Ten of the men nominated, along with the BLP photographers, pose for a photo. Photo courtesy of Alicyn Wiedrich
The project participants and stakeholders gather for an orientation session. Photo courtesy of Alicyn Wiedrich
The collaboration between photographers (L to R) Randy Curtis and Bryce Chapman. Photo courtesy of Jonathan Duran
Project participants were gifted with their framed portrait. Troy Davis (L). Photo courtesy of Mark Adcox
Kyle Johnson’s family enjoys the reception. Photo courtesy of Mark Adcox
Photographer Bryce Chapman captures the final installation of JoSeth Bocook’s banner portrait. Photo courtesy of Alicyn Wiedrich
Showing Yannick McLeod’s banner portrait installation almost complete. Photo courtesy of Alicyn Wiedrich
English 
Español