Canvas Work
Rosa Parks | The Difference of One
Commissioned permanent installation | Rosa Parks School | Queens, NY | 2010What story would you like captured on canvas? Whether honoring a loved one, preserving a family legacy, celebrating an achievement, or capturing a moment that matters, each commission begins with your story.
Every canvas holds a story within a story. Minerva looks beyond the likeness, weaving photographs, history, places, and personal details into a composition that extends far beyond the subject itself.
THE STORIES WITHIN THE WORK
A glimpse into the stories behind the art.
Malala: Thank you for your Courage | 2015
THE STORY INSIDE THE BOOK
Inspired by Malala Yousafzai’s courage, Minerva imagined a young girl reading a book filled with letters from girls around the world thanking Malala for inspiring them.
Look closely—the book, its words, and even the name DIAZ on its spine reveal another story within the canvas.
WHY THIS HARLEM CORNER MATTERED
After three years of working to bring the Harlem street co-naming honoring Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee to fruition, Minerva created A Salute to Excellence to celebrate their legacy and mark the historic occasion.
Misty Copeland reaches toward the newly named streets as Alicia Keys plays below, while Ossie and Ruby emerge quietly from the background.
A Salute to Excellence | 2019
The Ary of Oz | 2014
WHAT WAS ARY LOOKING AT?
A photograph of Minerva's niece dressed as Dorothy for Halloween sparked a simple question: What was she looking at? For Ary's birthday, Minerva answered it by drawing her into the world of Oz, looking toward the characters who had been just outside the photograph.
HOW THE POSTCARDS REACHED OBAMA
Minerva imagined history corresponding with itself. “Progress” writes to the past, connecting moments in Barack Obama’s historic journey with those who helped make them possible. And then, the postcards took an unexpected journey of their own.
Obama PostCard series | Election Night | 2008
Tuskegee Eclipse | 2013
THE CONVERSATION THAT OPENED A DOOR
After meeting Tuskegee Airman Dabney Montgomery and hearing firsthand the extraordinary history he carried, Minerva was inspired to create Tuskegee Eclipse—honoring men whose service and sacrifice went decades without the recognition they deserved.
That first meeting led somewhere unexpected: into the world of the surviving Tuskegee Airmen themselves.
WHEN THE PAST FOUND ITS PURPOSE
At fourteen, Minerva imagined a future in which Earth's plant life had disappeared and a single tree was preserved in space. Decades later, when invited to create work for an anti-fracking campaign in Binghamton, New York, she returned to that childhood idea and reimagined it for a new environmental fight.
Who knew an idea conceived at fourteen would find its way back decades later?
Protect Mother Earth | 2010