Detroit’s Jonathan Harris is known for his controversial paintings tackling racism, like his viral “Critical Race Theory” piece. Recently, however, the prolific young artist has turned to fundraising for a scholarship to help Detroit students attend college in the fall.
When Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) asked to use his “Critical Race Theory” and “My Brother’s Keeper” paintings as part of its district-wide curriculum, Harris happily obliged. When they later sent him a check for $3,000, he decided to give the money to a deserving student instead and founded the Jonathan Harris Scholarship.
“I would’ve let [DPSCD] use the images for free, honestly,” he says. “I was always gonna find something to do with it to give back so I got this idea to give it back to [Detroit public school] students.”
Though Harris donated the $3,000 for the scholarship, he’s using crowdfunding to increase it so he can, hopefully, award three students $3,000 each.
As a DPSCD alumnus who attended the Detroit School of Arts, Harris felt college scholarship applications were challenging for students interested in more creative pursuits who may not be great at writing essays. So instead of a formal application, students are asked to submit a short video on how they’ll use the scholarship.
“I know it’s smart students out there that just can’t get into the conventional way of let me look online, find this scholarship, [and] write an essay,” he says. “Kids, they don’t wanna do that these days. They’re on TikTok and all this other stuff, so why not meet them there and have fun with this? ... I know I’m not the best writer and when I’d see all these guidelines and stipulations for applying, it made me not want to do it."
The scholarship will be awarded to a current DPSCD graduate who plans to attend a two or four-year college in the fall of 2023. Harris intends for it to help students pay for supplies or other expenses traditional scholarships may not cover.
Applications for the Jonathan Harris close on Wednesday, Aug. 23, and winners will be announced on Sunday, Aug. 27. Winners must have proof of their alumni status from a DPSCD school for the class of 2023.
Meanwhile, for the past month and a half, Harris has been busy working on several projects for the University of Michigan, including a mural of students and a 10-by-5-foot painting called “Passing the Torch” which will be unveiled at the campus on Sept. 19.
“It’s basically staff members passing this title up a mountain to current students,” he says. “They’re passing on the knowledge and wisdom to our younger generation.”
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