Nina Simone pictured in 1967
Larry Ellis/Getty
Nina Simone's childhood home in North Carolina is to be preserved in the late singer's memory. The property, found at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, has been bought for $95,000 by a group of four prominent black artists.
The group who have invested in the property are Adam Pendleton, sculptor and painter Rashid Johnson, filmmaker Ellen Gallagher, and abstract painter Julie Mehretu. The three-room house came onto the market in late 2016 and, while under no specific threat, could have been demolished or converted depending on who stepped in to purchase it.
The group says they have "no blueprint" on what they will do with the property but that they will "honor the legacy" of the late artist. Speaking to the New York Times, they describe the purchase as “an act of art but also of politics.”
Johnson added, "“My feeling when I learned that this house existed was just an incredible urgency to make sure it didn’t go away.” Pictures of the house, plus a 360-degree video of the interior, can be seen here.
Earlier this year Nina Simone was honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
