MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – A Whitehaven native is back home exhibiting his artwork, for the first time ever, to bring joy to the community through his pop-up exhibit that highlights celebrities, athletes, and local faces in the 901.

Art has always been an outlet for artist Mohamed Fofana to let his imagination flow.

“There was just freedom, I just wanted to create,” Fofana said. “It made me feel good, it allowed me to dream, it allowed me to connect to the world how I saw it.”

Fofana said his artwork tells his life story.

“When I was little and I first moved to America, Memphis, Tennessee, I didn’t speak English, I didn’t have many friends, I spent a lot of time drawing,” Fofana explained.

Now, those drawings, dating back to his younger years, that he once considered private, are now on display to the public.

“I want to do a show, to show people this artwork,” Fofana said. “To show, ‘look where I started and look where I am.’ I don’t know where I’m going but there’s progress in just going for something.”

The exhibit, S Journey Home, is a collection of his diverse artwork from 2003 to now. Using art as a segue to showcase experiences and highlighting the people of Memphis.

“My art is to tell people’s story that I know, people from where I’m from,” he said. “I wanted to do that so they could see themselves. In a sense, kind of validates their living experience. Like you matter, you can be art.”

In his journey home, he only has one mission.

“When I first started making my art, it was just for me. It wasn’t for money, it wasn’t for approval, it just made me happy,” Fofana said. “It brought me joy and when I started sharing a little bit with other people, I saw that it brought them joy as well. So it kind of shifted my perspective and how I saw my art and the purpose became to bring happiness to other people.”

Fofana’s work will be on display until Saturday at the Medicine Factory.

To schedule an appointment for a tour, click here.

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MINNEAPOLIS — A vibrant acknowledgment of the place we call home is cruising all across the Twin Cities.

Metro Transit now has a bus covered from front to back in Native American artwork that was created by a local Native artist.

The story behind the colors and figures serves as a cultural history lesson, while the story of the driver who first got behind the wheel serves as a beautiful twist of fate.

A Metro Transit bus passing by probably wouldn’t have you doing a double take. They mostly look the same other than a variety of advertisements on the sides. That’s all the more reason why the carrying an entire pallet of colors is turning heads.

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“I didn’t want it to be too saturated, but also colorful enough so when people see it, they’re like, ‘whoa, I’ve never seen a pink and purple pastel bus in my life’,” said Marlena Myles.

Myles is the Spirit Lake Dakota artist who turned public transportation into a moving mural with a message. In large letters on the side of the bus it states: “We are on Dakota land.”

“I wanted to show that Dakota people, we’re still here. We’re a vibrant culture, the colors are to represent that,” she said.

The art was originally designed for signage at Ramsey County Parks, but Myles happily obliged Metro Transit’s request to have it wrapped on a bus.

“To Dakota people, we used to paint over our teepees and tell stories that wrapped around the tipi. So I figured, this is like a modern way of wrapping a design an object that we use every day,” Myles said.

The stories here include connections to wildlife, such as horses to represent how Native Americans used to travel. There are flowers in reference to plants being medicine and a learning tool. Tipis symbolize neighborhoods, while collections of colors showcase the vibrancy of different ethnicities and cultures working together.

Several drivers steer those stories across town, but Kevin Montry was one of the first to do so.

“This happened just by chance that I got this bus,” said Montry.

The bus was already sent out on a route that day in late spring, so he had to find it in St. Paul to make a swap.

“As soon as I drove up to it, it was this art and it was native and I… it just made me smile and touched me,” he said before pausing as emotions made his voice tremble. “I just felt like, of course, it’s me.”

Montry is Lakota and Anishinaabe. He drove it to a celebration event for the bus where Myles was waiting. He happily told her of his indigenous roots.

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“And she said ‘Of course you’re the one who brought the bus.’ Because in our Indian world ways, we don’t believe in coincidence,” he said.

Montry believes fate put him behind the wheel. It was an opportunity to honor his heritage that was a long time coming.

“I learned my (Native American) ways older in life. I never learned them as a kid because my mom and dad grew in the time to be ashamed of Indian and so it was time for me to have pride,” he said.

Montry is also a proud sun dancer.

“It was good for me to know too that the person driving this bus is feeling empowered because of it,” added Myles.

Her artwork combined with Montry’s energy feels like a match made in heaven. Or in this case, on the land their ancestors once called home.

“It was like we’re finally people that used to be invisible and now we’re visible,” he said through a smile.

If you want to see the bus, or learn which route it’s on for the day, click here to see the tracker. 

The artwork of a former KGB agent is now part of the August highlights at Local Color’s Artists Cooperative in downtown Gloucester.

Larry Martin-Bittman, formerly known as Ladislav Bittman, made Cape Ann his home and moved to Rockport. When he retired as a journalism professor form Boston University, he turned to art full time and found a welcome community of artists here. While teaching, he was known for his specialty and a course titled “Disinformation and the Press.” He also authored books, including “The Deception Game,” and co-authored “The KGB and Soviet Disinformation.”

Disenchanted with the Soviets, he defected to the United States when the Soviet Union took over his beloved Czechoslovakia in 1968.

When he died at home in 2018, the New York Times obit stated: “Lawrence Martin-Bittman, 87, Master of Disinformation, Dies.” But on Cape Ann, he was known as a soft-spoken and pleasant friend to many, from those on the waterfront to the creative community.

He was an active member of Local Colors for more than a decade, and he left some of his work to the Unitarian Universalist Church in Rockport so that any proceeds from sales would benefit the church as well as local non-profit organizations. In this effort, Local Colors has collaborated with the church to offer his work for sale to the public this August.

There will be a public reception at the Gloucester gallery, at 121 Main St., this Thursday, Aug. 10, from 5 to 7 p.m. with refreshments. The event is part of Gloucester’s Culture Splash each Thursday.

Martin-Bittman’s work was often whimsical. His visions of Cape Ann and rooftop scenes of his native Prague both regularly sold and often made him one of the most popular artists at the gallery.

“His art was so intriguing that I asked him many years ago if his paintings had special meanings. He just looked at me and laughed, indicating with a smile that there was not necessarily any special meaning behind his paintings. I guess the public will just have to judge for themselves,” said Kathy Bucholska, a 33-year member of Local Colors.

Another longtime member, jeweler Ann Schlecht recalled how he became part of her “family”.

“I met Larry at Local Colors, and we became close friends. I remember sharing with him that he reminded me of my dad. He was so good to my boys and me, sharing many meals while listening to his amazing war stories,” said Schlecht. “He was a very special person.”

On display will be Bittman’s watercolors and acrylics of local scenes, abstracts including his interpretations of Picasso’s works, prints and collages.

Also featured for August is the artwork of members Mya Rae Nelson and Bessie Blum.