The Artist

How It Was Made

SERVICE is the result of an effort to create art that represents a broader spectrum of North Carolina history. It was brought to life through the work of many arts professionals, historians, and School of Government faculty and staff.

In the early 2000s, the School of Government established an artist selection committee of 11 individuals. These contributors focused on establishing aesthetic criteria for choosing an artist, reviewed portfolios and statements of interest, performed interviews, and ultimately recommended two artists for commissioning. That process resulted in the hiring of Quashie.

Artist Selection Committee members

• Edie Carpenter
• Chandra Cox
• Linda Doughtery
• Emily Kass
• Juan Logan
• Karl Smith
• Mike Smith
• Faith Thompson
• Tom Thornburg
• Ann Simpson
• Janet Kagan

Additionally, a history committee with representatives from the North Carolina Office of Archives and History, UNC-Chapel Hill, the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History, and North Carolina Central University consulted with Quashie directly on establishing themes and figures to place in the painting. Quashie added a year of research to this work, consulting with the committee and locating photos and other details about the subjects.

History Committee members

• Jeffrey Crow
• Reginald Hildebrand
• Joseph Jordan
• Freddie Parker
• Harry Watson

Quashie conceptualized SERVICE using the Greensboro Four as a focal point. On February 1, 1960, Joseph McNeill, David Richmond, Jibreel Khazan (formerly Ezell Blair, Jr.), and Franklin McCain—four freshmen at North Carolina A&T University—took seats at the “whites only” lunch counter at the F.W. Woolworth store in Greensboro, North Carolina. They were subsequently denied service, then ignored, and eventually asked to leave. They instead remained seated until the store’s closure at 5 p.m., their peaceful sit-in becoming seen as a powerful and courageous act of resistance. While not the first sit-in of the Civil Rights Movement, the actions of the Greensboro Four proved to be a catalyzing moment in the Civil Rights Movement. They launched a series of sit-ins in Greensboro and ignited a national sit-in movement. Learn more from the International Civil Rights Center and Museum, located in Greensboro.

Quashie framed the work around the visual location of a lunch counter, similar to what might have been seen at a store like F.W. Woolworth. The Greensboro Four would be featured as “servers” because “they literally took possession of the lunch counter with their refusal to leave until served. By seeking service they were, by extension, serving a cause greater than themselves.”

After painting the 40 individuals portrayed in the work, Quashie added eight “glass” panels into the background that looked outside in order to highlight major African American events pivotal to North Carolina history. Explore these panels to learn more about the individuals and places portrayed.

SERVICE was dedicated on July 26, 2010. This date coincided with the 50th anniversary of the desegregation of the Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro. Accompanying the work is a series of 11x17” double-sided menus, which were designed using the original F.W. Woolworth menu as inspiration.