BLM serves to both capture a moment in time and sustain the conversation surrounding racial inequality and injustice—and hopes for the future—and features more than a dozen of the 200-plus #ArtUnitesCbus murals that were painted on plywood throughout Columbus following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020. Columbus, like many other communities in the United States, was galvanized into action following his and other deaths of Black Americans at the hands of the police. #ArtUnitesCbus is an initiative created by the Greater Columbus Arts Council and the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts on June 1, 2020 as part of—and as a response to—these protests. The initiative employed dozens of Columbus-based visual artists to make murals addressing such subjects as support for the Black Lives Matter movement; tributes to Black individuals killed by police, including Floyd and Breonna Taylor; and broader messages of love, hope, and unity.
After the protests, as businesses began to repair broken windows, remove the plywood, and reopen, GCAC and CAPA joined with the artists and other partners to document the murals and the inspiration of the people who created them. GCAC has committed to documenting and exhibiting the murals and encouraging dialogue about the Black Lives Matter movement as our city and our country work toward racial equity. This show is part of an ongoing initiative by GCAC to exhibit the #ArtUnitesCbus murals around Franklin County.
Photographs by Jake Holler
Mural artists: Adalyn, Brittany Hawley, Bryan Moss, Hakim Callwood, Lea Barker, Niko Latham, Raul Ernesto Bermudez, Sean Fink
Thumbnail image:
Lea Barker, Hands Up, Don't Shoot, 2020
Courtesy of the Greater Columbus Arts Council