Injustice Murals: A Contemporary Art Exhibition at the Bellevue Arts Museum.

Abstract

The purpose of this project was to curate a contemporary art exhibition that documented and shared the street art for the Bellevue Community inspired by the health, economic, and racial crises during the Seattle protests of 2020. The exhibition aimed to inspire empathetic connections between the guests at the Bellevue Arts Museum and the Seattle communities affected by the protests of 2020. The exhibit consisted of eight murals created by seven diverse artists that created street art that addressed the coronavirus pandemic and the BLM movement to foster empathetic, educational engagement with the Bellevue audiences that attended the exhibition. The art was created on plywood sheets protecting local businesses from protest damage in Ballard, Pioneer Square, and Capitol Hill, and within the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, or CHOP. The exhibit was collaboratively curated and utilized artists statements in the label copy. An artists' panel representing the exhibitors in the exhibit was created as a virtual educational program that allowed the artists to have a conversation with each other about their art, as well as connect to the audience and address any questions they had. While the exhibit evolved from being centered on art inspired by COVID-19 to include art inspired by social and racial injustices, Injustice Murals was successful in generating empathy in visitors to the exhibit and to participants in programming. This exhibit was on display from April 16, 2021 until July 18, 2021.