Making Black History featuring Justise Moore

February 16, 2021

WXXV,

Justise Moore is using art as a gateway to teach and touch lives. News 25’s Sabria Reid takes us to her art studio in Biloxi where creativity meets education.

Twenty-four-year-old Justise Moore owns a creative art studio in Biloxi called ‘Create with Jay.’ The art studio is a safe place for families and friends to come together and learn while they create.

Moore is a mother, the owner of two businesses, a teacher, and she is going to school for her Master’s Degree in leadership and human resources. “It doesn’t feel like work. It feels like it’s something that comes natural. It’s something you enjoy.”

Moore launched her business during the pandemic. She’s created a small, intimate setting allowing her to bond with customers one group at a time. “For a lot of people, it has been a place for people to come as a group.”

She attracts guests in a fun, family activity to do, but there’s really a lesson behind each painting.

As a teacher at Anniston Elementary in Gulfport, Moore uses painting as a gateway to reach the minds of those she interacts with. “People get bored, they don’t want to listen to a documentary, they don’t want to hear a lecture. So, if you give kids Ruby Bridges and you give them Martin Luther King and they have to draw about it, well “why am I drawing this person, who is this person, what did they do, why are they so important?”

She hopes her space opens the doors to inspire and touch lives. “How can I reach the next person because it was somebody who wasn’t a part of my family who touched me, and that’s my biggest thing being able to touch the next person.”

Moore is making black history on the Coast one painting at a time. “I kind of wanted to have the kids to be able to do something outside of school but they still learned. It allows them to have their own creative mind, it allows them to wonder. If you start with art, the kid’s kind of they become more curious.”

In honor of Black History Month, Moore is hosting Black History Sip and Paint on February 19^th and Black History Trivia February 20^th. Visit the Create with Jay Facebook page for more details.