As the region readies itself to commemorate the one-year anniversary since the death of Michael Brown Jr. sparked unrest that captured the world’s attention, 10th Street Gallery is once again opening its doors for those who chose to respond through the creative expression of visual arts.
On Saturday, August 8 they will open “Ferguson Remembered,” an exhibition of work produced by 10 local artists around the central theme of Brown’s death and the subsequent unrest.
Among those artists is gallery co-owner Solomon Thurman Sr.
One of the central pieces of the exhibit is his “Officer and an Artist. ” The watercolor portrait features his son Solomon Thurman Jr., a St. Louis Metropolitan Police officer, and artist Kevin Coles – who stands next to Thurman wearing a “Hands Up Don’t Shoot” T-shirt.
“That juxtaposition really showed visually how sensitive and how thin the lines are between what side of the line you are on as far as loyalties,” gallery owner Freida L. Wheaton told St. Louis Public Radio as she described the painting for listeners.
“There are law enforcement officers who do bad things – and certainly there are plenty of them. But we have law enforcement in our families. So we have to be careful by painting a broad brush and treating all people as a negative simply because they wear a uniform.”
Wheaton also served as organizer and curator for “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot: Artists Respond,” a traveling exhibit that showcased work from artists from around the country at several locations in the St. Louis region – including 10th Street Gallery.
“We are taking advantage of an opportunity to document history,” 10th Street Gallery co-owner Pat Smith Thurman said. “If you look back to what was going on in the ’60s and the early ’70s or any era in the United States, it’s always been documented through some sort of media.”
Thurman will join several other artists who will offer insight on their work and their artistic reaction to the unrest.
Among them is Howard Barry, who used pages of The St. Louis American that detailed the unrest as his canvas.
“I had to find some kind of way of dealing with what was going on, but not just being another angry voice,” Barry told The American.
“I would find myself trying to go on with my everyday life, but I’m going down West Florissant and the roads are blocked and I’m seeing everybody’s reaction. I would come home and try to work and be so frustrated that it was coming out in other things that I was doing.”
Information from St. Louis Public Radio was used in this report.
“Ferguson Remembered” will open with a reception on Saturday, August 8 at 10th Street Gallery, 419 N. 10th Street from 6-9 p.m. For more information, call (314) 436-1806 or visit www.10thstreetgallery.com. To RSVP for Saturday’s exhibit, e-mail Solomon@10thstreetgallery.com.