Nina Simone’s birthplace and childhood home in Tyron, North California, has been purchased by a group of artists. Their hope is to preserve the house as a historical site.
The group is formed by conceptual artist Adam Pendleton, sculptor and painter Rashid Johnson, filmmaker Ellen Gallagher and painter Julie Mehrety. They came together to bid for the home and ended up purchasing it for $95,000.
The New York Times reports that they describe their purchase of the singer songwriter’s home as an act of art, but also of politics, “a gratifying chance to respond to what they see as a deepening racial divide in America, when Simone’s fiery example of culture warrior seems more potent than ever.”