"I grew up on a street just adjacent to Orange Mound. Orange Mound has such a rich history: it was the second largest historically African-American neighborhood in the U.S. during the 1970's (Harlem was the largest) and the first African-American neighborhood of home ownership in the U.S. That's why I wanted to do this book on the shotgun houses in that community. We may think of them as small and menial in comparison to the larger houses built nowadays, but being a homeowner, period, is something to be celebrated. It was a big deal then, and it's a big deal now. The illustrations in the book are of real homes in Orange Mound that I photographed and then painted."
Darlene Newman holds an MFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, GA. She has been a professional illustrator for 14 years. Her first illustration job was with the Wall Street Journal.
- Not Far From Home (Orange Mound Shotgun House Book) available HERE or HERE
- Website: DarlenesArt.com
- Bio: Darlene Newman
- Email: [email protected]