Savannah cafe honors mother and namesake with mural of African American trailblazers

There’s a new mural in downtown Savannah that’s drawing a lot of buzz, but it’s not on the side of a building or confined to the walls of a gallery. It’s inside Kim’s Cafe, 714 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., and it doubles as a memorial to the memory of the restaurant’s namesake.

“This piece honors our mother,” said Maronda Pierce-Washington, co-owner of the café alongside Sharon Pierce, another of Kim Holmes-Dickens’ daughters. “If my mom could see the mural today, she would definitely give Julia all the praises and would not stop telling her how talented she is.”

The Julia that Pierce-Washington referred to is Julia Roland, a Savannah native and senior at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). The piece, reaching floor to ceiling on the left wall, depicts painted portraits of eight influential African-American men and women, built around a framed portrait of Kim, who smiles broadly.

“I feel that [my mom] would feel honored to have these individuals in an establishment that is honoring her name,” Pierce-Washington continued. “And even though [she’s] not here in the flesh, I'm sure her spirit is smiling daily as she watches her girls continue to hold her name up high.”

'People like me and you are just as important'

You may not yet have heard of Roland, but over the past couple of years she has started to emerge onto the Savannah art scene, even as she still works to complete her degree in painting. She’s a member of Friends of African American Arts (FAAA), and a part of a collective of artists put together by fellow painter Bobby Bagley, operating out of City Market. She’s currently working as an intern at ARTS Southeast.

Her professional output is as yet limited, but Kim’s Cafe has been an early supporter of her work, having previously commissioned two other murals by the artist. One of those pieces, a vibrant abstracted portrait situated just behind the register, drew so many compliments that, when it came time to do something special for their mom, Pierce-Washington and her sister knew that Roland would be the perfect choice for the project.

"We wanted to explore what more Julia could do for us,” she explained. “We truly believe in helping the local artists out within our community.”

In addition to re-connecting with Roland, Pierce-Washington reached out to local storyteller Amir-Jamal Touré for advice, and they ultimately decided to put together a selection of figures from both within our community and beyond, people who reflected the values that Kim lived her life by. Out of that list, Roland chose folks who are both recognizable and iconic, and those who are lesser known, but no less important.

“Some people I’d heard of, like MLK,” Roland explained, “and some people that I hadn’t, like Rev. Benny Mitchell, at the bottom [of the mural].”

Mitchell was the pastor of Connor's Temple Baptist Church, which is across the street from the restaurant, and a historical marker honoring his memory sits just outside the cafe.

Other figures include Malcom X, who most people will likely recognize right away, but there’s also portraits of activist Robbie Robinson, storyteller Jim Bacote-Geechee Kunda, and the trailblazing African-American investment banker Suzanne Shank.

“I knew we had all these important figures, but I’m a really big believer in cleaning up in your own back yard, and that’s what [Kim] did,” Roland related. “I feel like that’s just as important as people who are on a larger scale.”

“I wanted to have them framing her in a way,” she went on to say, “just to show that people like me and you are just as important if we care about others.”

Art + Community

Roland has community in her blood, and she’s spent her whole life focused on art: Her mother and much of her extended family still play significant roles at black and female-empowerment non-profits in and around Des Moines, Iowa; and Roland herself attended Esther F. Garrison School for the Arts and then Savannah Arts Academy before heading to SCAD.

The artist is still considering her options for her future post-graduation, and, after spending her whole life thus far in the Hostess City of the South, spreading her wings and exploring a new environment is a possibility. But with each new creative connection that she makes, Roland’s finding herself more and more linked to what makes Savannah special. And if the mural work takes off?

“You never know,” she said. “The more I make work that speaks to the black community in Savannah, the more I’m learning about it.”

Kim’s Cafe is located at 714 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd., Suite B in Savannah. Open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Closed Monday.

Find Julia Roland on Instagram @j.r.art_.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Daughters honor mother at Savannah cafe with mural of African American icons