I N D I A N A S TAT E M U S E U M A N D H I S T O R I C S I T E S
CROSSROADS EMPLOYEE NEWSLETTER MAY 2021
INDIANAPOLIS ARTISTS HONORED, EXCITED TO HAVE WORK DISPLAYED AT INDIANA STATE MUSEUM Mechi Shakur, photo courtesy of Arts Council of Indianapolis
In June 2020, after protesters went home, artists went to work. More than two dozen hit the streets to express their frustrations and hopes through murals on boards covering windows of downtown businesses following days of protests. Many of the artists expected their murals to be temporary – maybe lasting a few days or a few weeks. But the messages and imagery they created continue to resonate, and beginning June 5, six of those murals will be on display in “RESPONSE: Images and Sounds of a Movement” in Legacy Theater. Four of these works were created as part of the Murals for Racial Justice project. Elijah Stephen, whose given name is Elijah Norwood, and Gentry Parker teamed up to create one of the murals that covered windows at a former tattoo
parlor along Massachusetts Avenue. Their mural – titled “Take a Stand” – was a way for the two artists to support the movement of equality while also looking to the future and focusing on change. Stephen described his participation in the project as “life-changing.” He hadn’t painted for about two years prior to last summer. Now, his work will be included in a museum exhibit in his hometown. “It’s very emotional – because it came from a point where I’d given up on myself as far as art goes,” he said. “I lost my voice.” Parker saw the murals as a way to speak out and to bring beauty back to the city after the protests. He hopes both the mural he helped continued on next page