A man of many talents, Luke St. John McKnight ultimately sums himself up as “a creator.” Not only does the Baton Rouge native compose music and literature — he also curates artistic experiences for others through strategic planning.
As an emcee, he illustrates life experiences by putting commonalities and universal truths to a beat.
McKnight said he views art as an “umbrella” encompassing material that resonates with people.
“I function as a storyteller. In that vein, that space, that neural pathway, I am a storyteller. A modern-day scribe,” he said. “I tell stories that are mine, as well as yours, the audience.”
By touring and performing, he met “like minds and people” who he wanted to see have their own artistic space, which led to further creative development.
McKnight said art provides a greater good, and community development is how events like Build the Fire — a multidisciplinary, seasonal, visual and performing exhibition — took root.
“Build the Fire is the process of bringing to life whatever you’d like to see in the world, fulfilling a personal initiative,” he said. “Whatever your personal initiative is, that’s your fire.”
McKnight said he felt there was a need for events like Build the Fire in Baton Rouge for black people to have a space of their own. Calling the black experience “overlooked,” he said he decided to create a forum for “genuine minds … to circulate inside a space for an evening.”
With 400-500 people at its last event, Build the Fire has proven to be a productive, safe space for art lovers.
One of McKnight’s initiatives, the Walls Project, consists of seven programs. Murals funded through the project can be found scattered around McKnight’s “stomping ground” in North Baton Rouge, South Baton Rouge and Mid City.
By creating murals from Florida Boulevard to Choctaw Drive, he hopes to rebuild local areas that need attention.
Another one of the project’s programs, the Future Fund, focuses primarily on youth living in undeserved parts of the community.
Since the program started a year and a half ago, every Saturday for a full semester students can go to a location where they learn how to create a business, get involved with art entrepreneurship and tell their personal stories. If the students come from low or subsidized income, the classes are free.
Taught by professionals in their desired fields, students get the real-life opportunity to manage themselves as creators and entrepreneurs.
As manager for the Future Fund, McKnight called the program an “economic force that [he is] really proud to be a part of.”
Through the program, students have raised $10,000 of their own money, two coding students were offered jobs with the mayor’s office and one student was able to go to New York City on a photography scholarship.
McKnight said he is part of something greater than himself.
“I don’t look at myself as this physical body. I am infinite. I occupy the space, but me myself, I am here to just be an advocate of the real — and that’s all that matters to me,” he said.