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TruArtSpeaks highlights the work of a Krump dancer and ceramicist who center the Black experience in their art.

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About the Artists

Herb Johnson III, AKA JDot Tight Eyez, is a dancer, McKnight Fellow and graduate from Perpich Center for the Performing Arts. For three years, he studied at the Lundstrum Center for Arts and now works at the University of Minnesota as an Urban & Street dance instructor. He currently choreographs and performs solo and in groups 612 Crew, DeadPool, and Mixtape. Professional work includes iLuminate from America's Got Talent, Choreographing G-Eazy's Halftime show 2018, and Super Bowl 52 half-time Show 2018 with Justin Timberlake.

Gabrielle Grier is an artist, visionary, facilitator and participant of growth, perspective shifts and intentional responses to social and political change. With a strong focus on the exploration, documentation & claiming of cultural and historic identities, her work is filled with robust imagery, narrative and the essence of her spiritual existence.

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Art In This Present Moment

This project is part of Art in This Present Moment, an initiative of the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, with funding from the McKnight Foundation. We provided grants to 12 Minnesota-based nonprofit organizations to fund work by over 50 BIPOC artists who are changing and challenging dominant narratives through their craft.

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