For over 30 years, Joe Minter has been turning his home into something truly special — a sprawling, graphic, deeply personal African Village in America. Using discarded materials, he creates sculptures and signs that speak to history, injustice, resilience, and his faith. It’s an unforgettable space for fans of outsider art.
📍Location: 931 Nassau Ave SW, Birmingham, AL 35211
Joe Minter’s home/folk art environment are located in Birmingham’s Southwest neighborhood of Woodland Park.
Cost: free!
The Man Behind the Art
Joe Minter was born in 1943, the son of a World War I veteran who worked as a cemetery caretaker. After serving in the Army in the 1960s, Minter worked various construction and metalworking jobs until asbestos exposure led to permanent vision damage. Instead of slowing down, he found his calling as an artist. Minter began transforming his yard in the 1980s with colorful, bold memorials and messages.
If you’re lucky, you might be able to catch Minter working on his ever-growing creation, though he’s in his 80s now. (I visited on a quiet morning a couple years ago — still in the thick of the pandemic — so sadly, I didn’t get to see him.)
The African Village In America
Minter’s work honors the victims of the slave trade, the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, the 9/11 attacks, police brutality, Hurricane Katrina, and Sandy Hook. It’s an almost-overwhelming presentation of grief… but radiating with creativity. Metal scraps, wood planks, dolls, crutches, and other repurposed objects are mixed and melded together into these displays. Minter uses found objects because he believes these items contain the spirits of all who have touched them. [Source]
The art feels very personal in its subject, construction, and the fact that it’s on Minter’s residential property. There’s another layer of depth to his work when you realize the fenced art backs up to a family cemetery plot where his father, wife, and son are buried.
Minter’s Work Beyond His Home
If you can’t make it to Birmingham or want to see more of Minter’s work in a museum setting, you’re in luck. His art is part of permanent collections at institutions such as:
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)
- The Smithsonian American Art Museum (Washington, D.C.)
- The High Museum of Art (Atlanta, GA)
Nearby Places to Visit
Birmingham is an amazing city. Here are a few spots I love:
- Sloss Furnaces (20 32nd St N, Birmingham, AL 35222): Walk among the former furnace plant (make sure to check hours)
- Jim Reed Books (2021 3rd Ave N 2nd floor, Birmingham, AL 35203): Get lost in the rows of used books and nostalgic treasures.
- The Storyteller Fountain (20th St S, Birmingham, AL 35205): He’s not, but the satyr looks satanic.
- Chez Lulu (1911 Cahaba Rd, Birmingham, AL 35223): I’ve actually only gotten the baked goods here but they are exceptional and the decor is adorable.
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