North Alum Paints Portraits for History Hallway

Canvas. Paint. Brushes. Civil Rights Activism. While many students may not see the connection between these items, former Parkway North student turned professional artist, Danny McGinnist Jr, saw a connection and brought these things together to make up the six new portraits in the social studies hall.

Since last Wednesday, students walking down the social studies hall may have noticed more color and lots of vibrance and learned more about civil rights activists.

“Every B day when I go to honors MUSH, I notice the paintings almost immediately,” said freshman Madeline Fisher.

Last February, social studies teacher Scott Moeller created an idea of inviting students to put together some art for the social studies department. “We had a couple students who were interested, and they shared their interests with us, but then they kind of got busy,” said Moeller. That was when Moeller contacted McGinnist.

“He [McGinnist] was interested in working with the students but then it became obvious they [the students] were letting it go, so he decided to pursue it by himself,” said Moeller.

The art installment contains six portraits of civil rights leaders and a brief biography of each person and their contributions to society.

Moeller said, “We initially picked figures who were not the most prominent so that hopefully people who see the artwork and read the bios learn something new.”

McGinnist used his signature colors of red, yellow, and turquoise to create the portraits.

McGinnist gets his inspiration for his colors and art from “kids. [They] inspire me to create so much. When I watch a kid paint, they’re very consistent. They don’t stop whatever they’re doing. They don’t care what colors they’re putting down, they’re not afraid to make their mark.”

Fisher noticed the paintings and thought “the colors used really accent it [the portraits]. The paintings really make a statement in the hallway and brightens up that hallway.”

While attending Parkway North, McGinnist, who graduated in 2014, took any art courses he could get his hands on to pursue a career as a professional artist after high school.

“My high school experience was amazing here…I love this school. I would never get an experience like this from anywhere else. Parkway North has done a lot for me,” said McGinnist. “I loved being creative here, everyone letting me be who I am creatively, [and] as a person.”

McGinnist said, “The last class that I actually took [at North] that got me started off for art and for [being an artist in] the real world was AP Studio with Mr. Johnson. He helped me out with getting my artwork out into the art scene,” said McGinnist.

Moeller hopes that students and others who visit the social studies hallway learn about the civil rights leaders and appreciate what they did to make a better life for all people. He also hopes that students are inspired by the leaders and McGinnist himself, who had a challenging childhood including being homeless for part of the time while he was at Parkway North.

“They make me feel inspired because it’s cool to know that someone who went to the same school as me has so much talent to do this,” said Lorelei James-Michaelis.

by Mercedes Nesbit, staff writer