Community-Focused Art
Local artists Jeff Huntington and Julia Gibb, through their non-profit Future History Now, create community-focused art on huge murals throughout Annapolis.
Jeff Huntington
Jeff Huntington is an artist in the truest sense. He creates with conviction, quality and care. With an education starting at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington D.C., Huntington’s work has led him across the globe. Huntington’s name is synonymous with gallery worthy canvas work, street art, and community engagement through the arts.
Future History Now is Born
In 2016 Jeff Huntington and Julia Gibb founded Future History Now, an Annapolis nonprofit that creates opportunities for both learning and teaching artists through the creation of community focused murals. Since its inception, Future History Now has collaborated with over 450 youth and community artists and 32 partner organizations to create 42 murals in 17 communities spanning 5 countries. In Annapolis, FHN and area youth and community groups created the Breonna Taylor mural, Black Votes Matter murals, Presidents Hill Mural, and the Weird and Wonderful collection at Maryland Hall.
“FHN strives to empower young people while fostering artistic expression, personal growth, and skill sharing through authentic street art experiences and public mural projects,” Huntington and Gibb say. “Giving kids an opportunity to literally leave a mark within their environment in a positive, educational way, while connecting them with teaching artists, mentors, local political figures and other community leaders offers an opportunity-not only for artistic expression, but for personal growth and skill sharing.”
Community-Focused Art
Understanding their limits of creating large-scale, collaborative murals in a small town, Huntington and Gibb have found ways to engage directly with businesses and the community in and around Downtown Annapolis to further the arts.
“We share some of our own personal artistic challenges and how we made the best of them. Every single project presents its own set of problems. We encourage problem solving through collaboration and experimentation.”
“As we work in and around the city, we are seeing some of the youth who have participated with our organization in conjunction with other outreach programs, start to blossom into young mentors and leaders themselves. We engage partner organizations as a way of nurturing symbiosis within the ecosystem of our art community.”
Keep up with Jeff Huntington’s work at jeffhuntington.com and Future History Now projects at futurehistorynow.org
By Darin Gilliam
