“I hope they feel a sense of history,” said Freida Wheaton, founder of the Alliance of Black Art Galleries. “I hope they say this is being documented for the future – because this is protest art in large measure.”
On the cusp of the one-year anniversary of the collective, the Alliance of Black Art Galleries announced an art initiative that would allow individuals to use visual arts as a platform to express thoughts, feelings and response to the tragic death of Michael Brown on August 9 – and the weeks of subsequent protests and demonstrations in Ferguson that captured the world’s attention.
“I had been personally engaged in protests and attending one of the first rallies that was held at a church in Ferguson,” Wheaton said. “Just basically being there to feel, experience and support the protest movement, I thought it would be great for artists to express their feelings through art in some sort of organized fashion.”
The creativity of the posters and signs further supported her notion that there was a space for her to give visual artists an opportunity to use their talents to react to the tragedy on a major scale.
“The killing of Michael Brown has spawned grief, outrage, protest and civil disobedience,” Wheaton said. “It has also released a groundswell of interpretation through music, spoken word, graffiti, essay, dance, and visual art. I wanted to have a vehicle for visual artists to come together and for it not only for Ferguson and St. Louis to see it, but for it to be seen nationally – so the call for art was issued.”
The Alliance issued a call for 250 artists to participate. Each artist is asked to submit one piece that falls under the “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot!” theme.
“We also hope that this way of showing respect and reverence for what has happened in this tragic case,” Wheaton said. “That it will also uplift the Michael Brown family in knowing that we are looking to document this in the best way that we can.”
The plan is to have 18 venues to show the art, where each venue will exhibit from five to 20 pieces of art – with 250 pieces exhibited in total.
Those venues will be located in St. Louis, University City and St. Louis County. They anticipate having three locations in Ferguson to display the art.
She is anticipating submitted art will include paintings, drawings, photography, sculpture as well as new media. There have also been expressions of interest from filmmakers who want to express visual art through film, which Wheaton plans to happily oblige.
“It is documenting a movement,” Wheaton said. “Art that will be here for generations so that when people in 2055 look back at what happened in Ferguson, Missouri, they will see the expressions of artists documenting that pretty much in the same way that we have art from the ‘60s that document the Civil Rights Movement.”
She just had her first expression of interest from an artist who is a resident of Ferguson and is excited about residents using the call to cultivate their creativity. Through the initiative she wants them to have a stake in using their talents to share first-hand experiences in Ferguson for future generations.
“I’d like for them to look at the artwork and say, ‘Oh my God, this really happened, and these artists really captured those moments,’” Wheaton said. “I want them to feel what we are feeling today. I want them to see it and feel it with their hearts and minds and go back to this time and feel like they captured the moment.”
Submission forms are due on Saturday, September 6, 2014. For more information on the “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot!” call for art – including rules, regulations and submissions requirements – e-mail: allianceofblackartgalleriesstl@gmail.com or visit:
