Salt Of The Earth: Steve A. Prince Gives A Moving Lecture To Open His Art Exhibit

Steve A. Prince, director of engagement and distinguished artist in residence at the Muscarelle Museum at the College of William and Mary, gave a lecture on Tuesday, Aug. 31 to open his exhibit, “Salt of the Earth,” in the Penick Academic Complex Art Gallery.

In PAC A-72, Matthew 5:13 was written on a whiteboard in green marker underneath the stylized header, “Salt of the Earth: Art of Steve A. Prince.” Beside that, Prince (who dotted the I in his name with a crown) drew a woman’s portrait. The lines of the portrait, even in a medium like dry erase marker, swirled to form emotions across the woman’s face. Prince later described similar swirls in his other works as representative of the Holy Spirit. That is the essence of his art exhibit, titled after Matthew 5:13.

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

Matthew 5:13 ESV

“Art evangelist is not a title I gave myself,” Prince said. “It was actually a friend of mine in Grand Rapids, Mich. [who] gave me the title, and it just stuck. He called me an art evangelist because that’s how I look at art-making: through an evangelical lens. The ability to make works, and the ability to disseminate them all around the world. As artists, we are makers, we are creators, we are shapers of things, and that is a gift that we have to use as we continue to try to be the best salt of the earth that we possibly can be.”

The works displayed in the exhibit exude details that exemplify that salt of the earth. Through the lecture, Prince pulled examples from his work that tied into his selected Bible verse and to his philosophy. One element of Prince’s philosophy in creating is the dirge which he described as a mournful funeral tune.

“The music is being played in such a way that they’re trying to get the audience, the congregation… to go through the cathartic process of mourning,” he said.

Prince then played an example of a dirge mourning song.

“Once that person is laid to death in the ground,” he said when the dirge tune ended, “the tune moves from a mournful tune to a celebratory tune which is called the second line. Because they have a keen understanding that once that person is laid to rest, they are now in the wanting and loving arms of the Father.”

As he played a sample of the second line tune, Prince danced at the head of the lecture room. He played this tune for a longer duration than the dirge and danced till the last beat, as if to emphasize its celebratory nature.

The remainder of the lecture embodied this concept of the sorrowful dirge followed by the triumphant second line. Many of the pieces in his exhibit depict painful experiences of Black Americans, past and present. One in particular, entitled “Nine Little Indians, 1957,” illustrates Black children attending an interracial school for the first time in 1957. Minute details come together to satisfy the themes within the work. One girl in the center of the piece wears an AOG badge, which Prince stated would stand for “armor of God” or “assembly of God.” Pictures on textbooks depict real-life Black figures who were harmed because of their race including Henrietta Lacks and the men in the Tuskegee Study of 1932.

“Nine Little Indians, 1957” is one of many pieces in the exhibit that highlight the difficulties Black communities face.

“We must continue to make beauty out of all this hate,” Prince said. “We must continue to be that salt of the earth. That’s what it’s about. We as artists, what do we do with this gift? What do we do with these skills? … All these gifts – are they just for our own edification? Or is it for us to use it to speak to generations?” Prince stomped his foot several times as he spoke. “You ain’t worth nothing if you’re not going to be the salt of the earth.”

But, like the second line following the dirge, Prince ended his lecture by leading a song of praise. He encouraged his audience to join in.

“The dirge is the past,” he said. “It’s hurtful, but we can find the second line. Let’s be that generation. Let’s be the salt of the earth. Let’s be that light. Let’s be the fishers of men [and] draw them into the Truth.”

“Salt of the Earth: Art of Steve A. Prince” is open to the public in the Penick Academic Complex Art Gallery until Sept. 30.