Community Interest
Giving Back: Keisha Finnie
Artist Keisha Finnie has something to say. With her paintbrush as a bullhorn, she shares her voice in vibrant colors that saturate canvases and walls, coloring new life across the streets of Lancaster where she grew up.
Artist Keisha Finnie has something to say. With her paintbrush as a bullhorn, she shares her voice in vibrant colors that saturate canvases and walls, coloring new life across the streets of Lancaster where she grew up.
Although she’s happiest when she’s creating, Keisha admits it’s a little terrifying to pour yourself into something that will be interpreted by others. Her vulnerability strikes a chord with everyone who is compelled to stop and consider what she shares. An artist can’t know for sure if their work will wow, wake or wound those who stop to take it in, but for Keisha, hearing how her art impacts others has been affirming and community building. “It humbles me when people send me notes about how they connect to my work and how they are connecting my art to their own unique stories. Everyone has a different take on it.”
The solidarity and resonance that Keisha’s art receives from the community is affirming to her talent, and underscores the importance of representation in all aspects of our community. Keisha is moved to tears knowing that little girls and young women who look like her will be inspired and encouraged by how she has found success, community, and acceptance in sharing herself with an audience and building a career out of what she loves.
Keisha’s voice and spirit resonate with Lancaster because she is Lancaster. Her art reflects her own hopes, dreams and passions, and what she sees and feels about the world around her, the world around us.
Keisha Finnie has something to say about the journey, about music, and nurturing your mind, about racial injustice and hope and activism. She’s giving back by sharing her voice through her art in the hopes that others will feel inspired to share their voice in their own way too.
Keisha says, “In these times when we have no words, how we feel can be translated more powerfully in art.” Keisha is grateful to PCAD and MFE for recognizing her talent and providing her a platform with commissioned works throughout the city of Lancaster.
