Campbell Chosen as Arcadia Public Art Resident Artist

February 1, 2022 • Daniel DiPrinzio

Visual artist Amir Campbell has been selected as Arcadia University’s Public Art Resident Artist for 2022. Also known as Amiracle, Campbell will be the lead artist for this year's Arcadia Public Art Project and will teach a cohort of students in the public art apprenticeship course (Entrepreneurship/Gallery Apprenticeship) this spring. He also will deliver a public artist lecture this semester. 
 
“Does the artist create art, or does art create the artist?” Campbell asks on his website. “I approach my work from an interpersonal and interdisciplinary standpoint. My process involves visually stimulating my audience through color, and leading lines. As my work continuously evolves, I tend to become my art in motion and reflect myself or an aspect of thought to canvas or video.”
 
When Campbell received the 2021 Mural Arts Philadelphia Fellowship for Black Artists, the Mural Arts program noted that: “His work revolves around displaced identity and unity through the lens of integration and assimilation into American Culture as an African American. His ultimate vision is to blend the worlds of fine art with street art.” 
 
Campbell has rendered portraits for celebrities, politicians, and historical figures including:

• Pat Martino, Legendary Jazz Musician
• Spike Lee, film director
• Ed Rendell, former Pennsylvania governor
• Sonia Sanchez, poet and Black Arts Movement leader 
• Dr. Cornel West, political activist and scholar

The Arcadia Public Art Project creates community-focused public art projects rooted in Glenside, Pa. Student apprentices work with professional artists and Arcadia faculty to design and fabricate a growing collection of public artwork. The project aims to build bridges between the diverse communities that call Glenside home, in the service of contributing to a more connected, sustainable, and equitable community.
 
"To be selected to walk in the footsteps of such a great legacy is an honor and a privilege,” said Campbell. 
 
Last year, Professor of Visual and Performance Arts Abbey Ryan '03, Adjunct Professor of Visual and Performance Arts David Guinn, Adjunct Professor of Visual and Performance Arts Maryann Worrell '05, and Adjunct Professor of Visual and Performance Arts Krista Profitt '11 earned the 2021 Dr. Finbarr O’Connor Prize for Shifting the Paradigm for their work on the Arcadia Public Art Project. The group, and all in the Public Art Project, collaborate closely with artists/students to make sure Arcadia/Glenside community connections are made and sustained over time. 
 
Past projects include:

• A Glenside walking tour with artist Yixuan Pan in 2021 
• Sculptural benches and platform at Keswick Avenue and Waverly Road with artist Kelly Cave in 2020.
• A mural, “Sweet Magnolia,” on Easton Road, a student-led project, in 2019
• A mural at the Glenside Station’s East side, and lighting on both sides with artist David Guinn in 2018
• A mural at the Glenside Station’s West side with Guinn in 2017

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