He had discovered the iron-rich soil could be used in a chemical reaction with a potassium compound and nitric acid to produce a vibrant blue pigment. But over the past three years, the Chicago-based artist and architect Amanda Williams has been reviving Carver’s blue with the help of researchers and scientists. “So there was a practicality to it, but there was also ingenuity in figuring out that things around you can yield unexpected results.”An arts building at Xavier University painted in Carver blue. GBM Historical Images/ShutterstockFor Carver, color was a tool to beautify the homes of the region’s poorest residents that could be achieved through natural resources. Courtesy the artistBut for her commission for Prospect.6, titled “In Her Rich Deposits of (Blue),” Williams chose to focus on “signaling joy, and not inequity or disparity,” she said.

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Persons: George Washington Carver, Pablo Picasso, Hokusai, Carver, Amanda Williams, ” Williams, Tom Harris, Williams, —, Sheen, ”, Kramer, “, Booker T, Yves Klein, Klein Organizations: CNN, Tuskegee University, Xavier University, Chicago World’s, The University of Chicago, New Orleans African American Museum, Prospect, Tuskegee, Washington, “ Locations: Berlin, Kanagawa, ”, Chicago, New Orleans, Tremé, NOAAM, Montgomery , Alabama, Side, Englewood, Black, Washington