Alternative color scheme @michelleobama . . #nubian #blackart #digitaldrawing #phontart #supportblackart #art #illustration #drawing #draw #TagsForLikes #picture #artist #sketch #artsy #instaart #beautiful #instagood #gallery #masterpiece #creative #photooftheday #instaartist #graphic #graphics #artoftheday #phoneart #supportblackart #melanin #African #blackartist #dopeblackart A post shared by G (@thick_east_african_girl) on Nov 4, 2016 at 1:34pm PDT On Nov. 4, 2016, artist Gelila Lila Mesfin posted a digital drawing she created on Instagram of Michelle Obama as an emerald-clad Egyptian queen.Fast forward to April 2017, when a strikingly similar, if not identical, image was mounted as a mural in Chicagos South Side neighborhood' just two blocks from the former first ladys childhood home. Chicago-based artist and urban planner Chris Devins installed the piece, presumed to be his own, after raising$11,785 on GoFundMe.The purpose of this mural, Devins wrote,is to give todays children someone they can literally look up to and to celebrate Mrs. Obamas life and accomplishments during the last 8 years as First Lady of the United States.Devins launched his crowdsourcing campaign on Nov. 8, 2016, just days after Mesfin posted her image. Yet Devins never acknowledged whether or not Mesfin provided the source image for his outdoor mural or served as any sort of inspiration for his work.In an interview with DNA Info, published on April 21, Devins described the reasoning behind his portrait of Ms. Obama, making no mention of Mesfin or her work.I wanted to present her as what I think she is, so shes clothed as an Egyptian queen, Devins said. I thought that was appropriate. How can you just steal someone's artwork... someone's hard work and claim it like it's yours... how can you go on record and say you designed this... this is so disheartening and so disrespectful on so many levels... like this man seriously created a gofundme page, raised money and did this... it's one thing to share or even profit from someone's work but to claim it as yours is just wrong! Thank you to those who DM and messaged me to let me know what was going on @dnainfochi you guys should take this article down because this man stole this. I wouldn't mind if he had given me credit or said he took the design from another artist but saying you designed it is just wrong! The man is a teacher for God's sake and said he was doing this to create positivity for his students and community... but he didn't think that stealing a young girl's artwork and making a profit out of it does more damage than good. A post shared by G (@thick_east_african_girl) on Apr 21, 2017 at 6:13pm PDT After Michelle Obama mural revealed to be based on "stolen" artwork, muralist & original artist unite to make amends https://t.co/2qt9PkJ2Jc pic.twitter.com/i0g1yRdcZW DNAinfo Chicago (@DNAinfoCHI) April 24, 2017 It wasnt long before Mesfins DMs were filled with links to Devins story on DNA Info, from others who recognized Devinsalleged artwork as hers. Mesfin expressed her disappointment in a statement published on Instagram.I wouldnt mind if he had given me credit or said he took the design from another artist but saying you designed it is just wrong! she said. The man is a teacher for Gods sake and said he was doing this to create positivity for his students and community... but he didnt think that stealing a young girls artwork and making a profit out of it does more damage than good.On Friday, Devins emailed DNA Info responding to the claims of plagiarism, admitting: It was sloppy. The artist explained that he encountered Mesfins image on Pinterest and was influenced by her work, which he described as afound image.We were blown away by a wonderful image we stumbled on, Devins said, and only found out after the fact who the source of our inspiration was. We in no way meant to [infringe]on anyones creativity.The artist also expressed that hed reached out to Mesfin to offer her a licensing fee, though he did not disclose the amount.Devins also posted a less gracious message on GoFundMe yesterday, calling out Mesfin for her use of Collier Schorrs photograph of Obama as source material.Um. People, he said, linking to Schorrs portrait as it appeared in The New York Times. If you want to go there, the so called original is stolen from photographer Collier Schorr. The broader conversation is one about authorship in the re-mix culture we live in.In response, Mesfin posted another message on Instagram, in which she thanked her followers for their support and implored them to send only positive vibes Devins way.I preach love, not hate or anger of any kind, she wrote. Talk about taking the high road.Hopefully Mesfin receives the compensation and credit shes due. And, to all the artists-slash-urban-planners of the world: Dont rip off the work of emerging artists, especially young women of color, because the Internet has a way of uncovering these shady endeavors. Thank you again everyone for the love and support truly appreciate it '''''' . . #artistunite #artistssupportartist #supportart #supportpostivity #loveall #supportblackartist #supportlocalartist A post shared by G (@thick_east_african_girl) on Apr 22, 2017 at 5:36pm PDT type=type=RelatedArticlesblockTitle=Related... + articlesList=587d3db2e4b086022ca94ee3,580f4fe3e4b0a03911ee90ea,587668e3e4b05b7a465cf25a -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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