Celebration of Life set for Beverly Cottman

Beverly Cottman leading a Kwanzaa celebration at Sumner Library in December. Photo by David Pierini

By David Pierini, Editor

From her library of African fables and folktales, storyteller Beverly Cottman offered a blessing that, in part, gave thanks to the ancestors for the lessons they left behind. Call their names and know they are listening.

The teacher, artist and the beloved griot known as Auntie Beverly joined the village of ancestors on March 11, passing away in her sleep during a trip to Egypt with friends. She had just turned 80.

Not long after the news of her passing was posted on Facebook by Kenna Cottman, tributes poured in from across the country. There were messages from storytelling groups and former students of her science class at North High School. Others were artists who had grown from the gentle encouragement of Cottman and her husband, Bill, a photographer and writer. Their roles in promoting the arts in North Minneapolis continue to flourish.

Friends raised more than $6,000 to bring Beverly Cottman home from Egypt. A day-long celebration of life is scheduled for March 31 at Liberty Church’s Northside Healing Space, 2100 Emerson Ave. N. There is a 1 p.m. program and lunch followed by healing activities at 3:15 p.m. A sendoff and repass is set for 6:30 p.m (visit voiceofculture.org for more details).

While grief over her sudden passing is profound, others felt comfort in the image of Cottman reunited with her husband, who died on Dec. 8, 2021. Some saw them as dancing again or walking hand-in-hand like kids.

“It’s like a lot of people are going on the altar,” said Roger Cummings, co-founder and chief cultural producer at Juxtaposition Arts, where the elder Cottmans were board members. “That’s sad… And on some level it makes us strong because you know they’re going to be looking after us and helping us out.” 

Cummings said Cottman’s warmth will endure. In conversation, she had a big, easy smile and often placed a gentle hand on the arm of the person across from her. 

Beverly Cottman was born in California in 1943 and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. She met her husband, Bill, while both were students at Howard University. They graduated in 1967, married that same year and moved to Minneapolis, where Bill took a job as an engineer with Honeywell.

Together they raised a family of artists and educators. Like their mother, Kenna is a teacher, dancer and storyteller who founded her own company, Voice of Culture Drum and Dance. Kenna’s children Yonci Jameson and Ebrima Sarge have performed for the troupe. Jameson runs youth programming for KRSM radio. 

Beverly Cottman was a science teacher for more than 30 years. She was a resident artist for COMPAS, an arts education nonprofit organization in Saint Paul. 

“My first experience as a performing storyteller happened at a birthday-party for my granddaughter,” Cottman said in a 2019 interview on the COMPAS website. “The children were enthralled by the simple stories of the Little Red Hen and Zomo the Rabbit. I felt good telling them.  

“Afterwards, I realized that I had been telling stories as a science teacher for a long time. I had helped students understand complex ideas by putting them in story form and had made historical figures more accessible by telling the stories of their lives and work.”

Auntie Beverly helped Yoyo Brown, 6, weave a Mkeka, a mat on which rests the symbols of Kwanzaa. Photo by David Pierini

Last September, Cottman offered a blessing for youth, elders and ancestors at the 32nd Annual Black Master Storytellers Festival. In December for Kwanzaa, families gathered at the Sumner Library to hear her tell stories. Afterward, Cottman, family and friends helped children weave Mkeka mats. The mats hold the symbols of Kwanzaa and represent the idea that nothing can be built without first laying a foundation.

Storytelling was not the only art form she practiced. She considered herself an “interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary” artist. She wrote poetry and created collage and found-object sculptures. She was an early member of the Ananya Dance Theatre, a contemporary dance troupe rooted in social justice and calls to action. 

African heritage, social justice and the transfer of wisdom were unifying threads in all Cottman created. Also attached to everything she created was a story.

Friend and fashion designer Keiona Cook said everything Cottman created was with a teacher’s love and sensibility. 

“Every last bit of her art has a story to tell,” Cook said. “When I do my work, designing couture garments, my work tells a story. These stories come from being African American and wanting to understand our hidden history.

“A lot of people say when you lose an elder, you lose a library.”