In an effort to support and highlight underrepresented artists, Solange Knowles is founding a creative agency under her Saint Heron brand.

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Launched in 2013, Knowles’ Saint Heron is described as an online community that celebrates music, art and cultural conversations. Since its launch, it has developed into “an expansive multidisciplinary platform, studio” and now, creative agency. Per a recent press release, Saint Heron has officially announced its next “phase” as a creative agency, hoping to “uplift voices” within underserved communities.

Solange Knowles speaks onstage at the Lena Horne Prize Event in her honor on February 28, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Jason Mendez/Getty Images for The Town Hall)

Per the official press release, Saint Heron will expand, “into a multidisciplinary platform, studio and creative agency with an urgent mission to preserve, collect and uplift the stories, works, and archives that amplify vital voices within communities. The company will build spaces that engage radical conversation and conceptual imagining across art, design, architecture, fashion and literature.”

Also set to launch is the official Saint Heron Dossier on the Saint Heron website, that will cover “literary and visual retrospectives of radical family and artist’ lineages.”

With the first digital installation available to view now, the Saint Heron Dossier will, “showcase literary exhibitions that tell inspirational stories of familial lineage, returning home, physical exodus and personal reclamation.”

Conversations set to be featured in the dossier include poet Barbara Chase-Riboud in conversation with award-winning author and educator, Ilyasah Shabazz, Shala Monroque and artist Cassi Namoda, Helga Davis and Okwui Okpokwasili and more.

In a statement, Knowles shared, “Worldmaking has been a huge part of my practice. The idea of leaving behind cities, meccas, and universes that were occupied and celebrated by bodies, voices, celebrations and rituals to be discovered down the line. As we transition to an institution, the answer and the vision become abundantly clear. We are creating a legacy where we not only continue the work we have already built, but preserve collections of creators with the urgency they deserve.”

“Together we want to create an archive of stories, and works we deem valuable,”she continued. “We want to open up these works publicly, and make them accessible to students, and our communities for research, engagement, and consumption so that the works are integrated into our collective story and belong and grow with us.

She added, “We are creating an embodiment of living testaments to the glory of expression, and how that recharges and reaffirms the reverence we hold for our own cultural and artistic worth. We look forward to furthering the pursuit of authenticity that empowers the stories of our people.”

Read More: Solange is first to be honored with award named after the art and activism of Lena Horne

The announcement also confirms the continuation of Saint Heron’s activism work through the Saint Heron Holism Project. The project is described as “an initiative built to bring holistic therapeutic healing and support to women, girls and communities of color.”

You can visit the official website and check out the first digital installation of the dossier, here.

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