Page 15 - Florida Sentinel 3-4-22

Local Well-Known Tampa Native Finally Sharing One Of Her Talents With The World... Her Art
BY MONIQUE STAMPS Sentinel Staff Writer
Jeanette Bradley is a gifted artist with a yearning to work and instruct children.
Growing up in Tampa, she at- tended Brandon High School. Bradley continued her educa- tion at HCC, then attended the University of Wyoming and fin- ished her degree at Florida State University, on a track and field scholarship. The talented athlete minored in art in college and wanted to pursue a career in art but felt the pressure to get a “real” job.
Bradley spent years in corpo- rate HR before sitting herself down and asking what she really wanted to do with her life.
In 2003, Bradley founded her non-profit, What We Could Be Exchange (WWcB) so that she could work directly with Black and brown students. SEED- FOLKids is a program under the umbrella of WWcB that is based on Paul Fleischman’s novel Seedfolks. Seedfolks is a story where a junk-strewn city lot is
JEANETTE BRADLEY
... Founder of What We Could Be Exchange and SeedFolkids
transformed into an urban gar- den, a process that transforms the gardeners’ lives as well.
SEEDFOLKids’ volunteer staff work with up to ninety ele- mentary-age students in three low performing public schools (Just Elementary, Edison Ele- mentary, and Sulphur Springs K – 8) in a school garden setting created by the students them-
Girls in the news.
back, she began her art business in earnest.
Her art reflects the narrative of Black people, especially, who have shaped American culture for decades. She usually uses an ab- stract background with images on top. She frequently uses newsprint as a “color” to repre- sent the intersection of Black women and the culture.
Her work encourages Black women to tell their own stories.
Ms. Bradley’s framed prints can be seen and purchased at Ersula’s History Center at Tampa Park Plaza.
“I believe my partnership with Ersula Odom to be a wonderful collaboration as my art refer- ences are historical, in the pres- ent, with hopes for new future narratives for Black life in Amer- ica,” Bradley states.
Visit her website, www.jm- bradleysurbanart.com, for addi- tional information and to see her works of art. Her piece, Night Rider Five, recently won 3rd Place in the Suncoast Black Arts Collaborative “Visions in Black” Exhibition in Sarasota.
selves. The students gain a new more academic-focused, garden- centered, enterprising spirit in their schools and neighborhoods.
On Saturdays, the children sell their Jalapeno honey and special peanut brittle at the Ybor Market. They make the treats with ingre- dients from their garden. The stu- dents’ trajectory changes with an introduction to entrepreneurship
and sustainability.
In the last 3 to 4 years,
Bradley has worked on her own self-awareness journey. The call to create came to her while deco- rating her home. She determined that she wanted artwork that she created to be the decoration for her home. After a show at the Saunders Library, Bradley started getting such positive feed-
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