WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Sharing Black culture and listening to Black voices is being done through art in Wichita. Anthony Joiner uses his work to make change beyond the four weeks of February and the four corners of a canvas.

Mulberry Arts is a place where Black voices are not just heard but seen.

“A space where they felt welcomed, a space where they could show their work and actually grow. And that’s what we created here,” said Joiner, founder and director of Mulberry Arts.

Joiner says he created the Mulberry Arts Gallery for one purpose.

“One spot for us to come and express ourselves without restraint and tell the story that we’re living, or the story that our ancestors have lived,” said Joiner.

With Black history on the walls and stories on every canvas, for Anthony, representation is essential.

“Because I have a son, I have a nephew, I have little cousins,” he said.

Anthony says the Black community must keep pushing barriers in art and in life.

“Because we have to move forward as if the issues that we see are not really affecting us,” he said.

But they do affect him. So, Anthony uses it as fuel to motivate and inspire other artists of color.

“I want them to look at me and see someone who stood strong and made a very positive impact no matter what,” he said.

He advises to “find your circle of people that you trust, circle of people that can help you to move on and continue to make a major impact in the industry that you choose.”