Speed Art Museum
Louisville, Kentucky
Promise, Witness, Remembrance at the Speed Art Museum, curated by Allison Glenn, reflects on the life of Breonna Taylor, her killing in 2020, and the year of protests that followed, in Louisville and around the world. The exhibition is organized around the three words of its title, which emerged from a conversation between curator Allison Glenn and Tamika Palmer, mother of Breonna Taylor, during the exhibition’s planning.
Read MoreIn "Promise," artists explore ideologies of the United States of America through the symbols that uphold them, reflecting on the nation’s founding, history, and the promises and realities, both implicit and explicit, contained within them. In "Witness," they address the contemporary moment, building upon the gap between what a nation promises and what it provides through artworks that explore ideas of resistance across time, form, and context. In "Remembrance," they address gun violence and police brutality, their victims, and their legacies.
Promise, Witness, Remembrance features artists from Louisville and across the United States, and was developed with the guidance of Breonna Taylor’s family, a Steering Committee of Louisville artists, activists, mental health professionals, researchers, and community members, convened by the Speed’s Community Engagement Strategist Toya Northington, and a National Advisory Panel, convened by Glenn.
Exhibition Programs
Cinema+ Looking at the Past to Inspire the Future: Community Leader Panel Discussion About Judas and the Black Messiah
Moderated by Nicole Hayden, a panel of community leaders used the film Judas and the Black Messiah to launch a conversation about how communities can organize and spur a movement for social and economic change. The film premiered earlier this year at the Speed Cinema as part of the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.
Panelists included Charles Booker, Councilwoman Keisha Dorsey, Shauntrice Martin, and Dr. Brandon McCormack.
About the Moderator:
Nicole Hayden is the Founder & President of Friends of Nicole 50/50 Mentoring Collaborative Inc. An accomplished teacher, motivational speaker, activist, and entrepreneur, Nicole has always kept Louisville at the center of her heart and was heartbroken by the murder of Breonna Taylor and subsequent mishandling of her case by local and state authorities. Nicole committed herself to protests & organizing throughout the Spring and Summer of 2020, collaborating with National Social Justice Organization Until Freedom and countless other organizations as a community liaison.
About the Panelists:
Charles Booker is a politician and former Representative of Kentucky’s 43rd District. As part of the Kentucky House of Representatives, Booker served on the Economic Development and Workforce, Judiciary, and Natural Resources and Energy Committees. Booker and his wife, Tanesha, have two daughters and live in the Russell neighborhood.
Councilwoman Keisha Dorsey is the Councilwoman for Louisville District 3. As a Louisville native, she has served her community throughout the years in the areas of economic development, public health, community development projects and various initiatives including the Minority Aids Project, One West Community Development and the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. She is a proud HBCU alum of Oakwood University where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biological Studies with a minor in Biochemistry. and attended the University of Louisville for her Masters in Public Health.
Shauntrice Martin is an abolitionist in Kentucky. She is the director and the founder of #FeedTheWest, a food justice program sponsored by Black Lives Matter Louisville and Change Today, Change Tomorrow. After studying food apartheids in Belize, Mexico, Trinidad & Tobago, and across the U.S., she started Black Market KY to address food insecurity. Shauntrice has earned numerous awards including Louisville Forty Under 40, The Coalition of Black Excellence Impact Award, and Silicon Valley Business Journal Woman of Influence.
Dr. Brandon McCormack is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pan-African Studies and the Department of Comparative Humanities (Program in Religious Studies) at the University of Louisville. He earned his Ph.D. in 2013 from the Vanderbilt University Graduate Department of Religion. His research explores the intersections between Black religion, popular culture, the arts, and activism. He teaches courses in African American religion, religions of the African diaspora, and religion and hip-hop culture.
National Advisory Panel Conversation with Allison Glenn
Promise, Witness, Remembrance Guest Curator Allison Glenn (Associate Curator of Contemporary Art, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art) assembled a National Advisory Panel to help shape the early stages of the exhibition development, and to subsequently advise throughout the planning stages. Hear from Allison Glenn about why she chose to convene this group of advisors and listen to the panelists discuss the process.
Participating National Advisory Panelists
Mecca Brooks, Arts Strategist
Allison Glenn, Guest Curator and Moderator
Jon-Sesrie Goff, Multidisciplinary Filmmaker, Curator, and Arts Administrator
Amy Sherald, Painter
Dr. Allison K. Young, Art Historian
About the Panelists:
Mecca Books is a cultural producer and arts strategist committed to driving connectedness in collaborative spaces. She specializes in community partnerships, urban ecology and project management to provide a platform for awakened and transformative being. She is currently a team member at Hank Willis Thomas Studios.
Jon Sesrie-Goff is a multidisciplinary artist, curator, and arts administrator. With extensive experience in media and film production, Jon has offered his lens to a variety of projects spanning many genres including the recently released and award-winning documentaries, including Out in the Night (POV, Logo 2015), Evolution of a Criminal (Independent Lens 2015) and Spit on the Broom (2019), among several other projects.
Amy Sherald documents contemporary African-American experience in the United States through arresting, otherworldly portraits. Sherald subverts the medium of portraiture to tease out unexpected narratives, inviting viewers to engage in a more complex debate about accepted notions of race and representation, and to situate Black heritage centrally in the story of American art.
Dr. Allison K. Young is Assistant Professor of Art History at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. A specialist in postcolonial and contemporary art of the Global South, she received her Ph.D. from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University in 2017. Young’s research primarily centers African and African-Diasporic artists and art histories, with focus on twentieth century South African art, British art and visual culture, and questions surrounding migration, transnationalism and social justice in contemporary art.
Virtual After Hours at the Speed
Virtual After Hours welcomes you to explore our collections and exhibitions with special performances, conversations, tours, and more, streaming live online via the Speed’s YouTube and Facebook channels. You’re invited to join us from the comfort and safety of home!
April's Virtual After Hours includes:
- Director’s Cut: Part 1 with Speed Art Museum Director Stephen Reily and Community Engagement Strategist Toya Northington
- Performance of VIGIL from opera singer/musician Davóne Tines
- Art + Activism discussion with public educator and historical storyteller Jermaine Fowler
- Tricia Hersey of the Nap Ministry discusses creating a guided meditation for Promise, Witness, Remembrance
- Music performance from The Afrophysicists
Virtual After Hours at the Speed
Virtual After Hours welcomes you to explore our collections and exhibitions with special performances, conversations, tours, and more, streaming live online via the Speed’s YouTube and Facebook channels. You’re invited to join us from the comfort and safety of home!
May's Virtual After Hours includes:
- Director’s Cut with Speed Art Museum Director Stephen Reily and artist Amy Sherald
- Showcase from selected artists in response to There Are Black People In the Future by Alisha Wormsley. The call for commissions is now open! Application is available here. Deadline to to submit proposals is Sunday, April 11 at 11:59pm EST.
Teal Table Talks
These events will bring strangers together to have candid conversations about their experiences and issues that have affected our community over the past year. The goal is to create a space for community members to come together to have organic conversations. Teal Table Talks will take place in small sessions facilitated by Dr. Steven Kniffley and Chandra Irvin with additional facilitators from Spalding University.
Participation includes admission to Promise, Witness, Remembrance one hour before your session begins, and participants will have the opportunity to reflect on their experience afterwards.
Teal Table Talks
These events will bring strangers together to have candid conversations about their experiences and issues that have affected our community over the past year. The goal is to create a space for community members to come together to have organic conversations. Teal Table Talks will take place in small sessions facilitated by Dr. Steven Kniffley and Chandra Irvin with additional facilitators from Spalding University.
Participation includes admission to Promise, Witness, Remembrance one hour before your session begins, and participants will have the opportunity to reflect on their experience afterwards.
Photographing the Protests: Through the Lens of Tyler Gerth
Join Promise, Witness, Remembrance Guest Curator Allison Glenn for a virtual panel exploring the power of protest photography and the importance of documenting the movement for racial justice in Louisville, Kentucky during the summer of 2020. This discussion features Brittany Loewen and Tiffany Hensley, sisters of the late photographer Tyler Gerth, and photographer Jon P. Cherry. The panelists reflect on coming together through Tyler’s work and how his photography showcases the humanity of processing grief and loss.
Teal Table Talks
These events will bring strangers together to have candid conversations about their experiences and issues that have affected our community over the past year. The goal is to create a space for community members to come together to have organic conversations. Teal Table Talks will take place in small sessions facilitated by Dr. Steven Kniffley and Chandra Irvin with additional facilitators from Spalding University.
Participation includes admission to Promise, Witness, Remembrance one hour before your session begins, and participants will have the opportunity to reflect on their experience afterwards.
Celebrating Community in "Promise, Witness, Remembrance"
Bring your family and friends to see Promise, Witness, Remembrance and enjoy special programming inspired by the exhibition.
- Create your own Black Out Poetry or an artwork inspired by Nari Ward's We the People as part of a Take Home Art Kit
- Enjoy lunch from Black-owned food trucks on site at the Speed
- Make your own button inspired by Alisha Wormsley's There Are Black People in the Future as part of Open Studio
- Learn about gardening and planting from Louisville's Garden Girl Foods
Celebrating Community with "Promise, Witness, Remembrance"
Bring your family and friends to see Promise, Witness, Remembrance and enjoy special programming inspired by the exhibition.
- Create your own Black Out Poetry or an artwork inspired by Nari Ward's We the People as part of a Take Home Art Kit
- Enjoy lunch from Black-owned food trucks on site at the Speed
- Storytime in the Galleries with author Brittany Thurman
- Chalk portraits and live artmaking demonstration from artist/muralist Jaylin Stewart
- Learn about gardening and planting from Louisville's Garden Girl Foods
- Take a family photo at a personalized photo booth
- Heath Fair to honor Breonna Taylor's passion for healthcare
- Engage in a candid, meaningful conversation through Teal Table Talks
Experience the Art
View photographs of the artwork featured in Promise, Witness, Remembrance.
Learn More“It Could Have Been Me”
After interacting with the “Promise, Witness, Remembrance” exhibition, the Speed Museum encourages community members to reflect on and contribute their own images to an online photo engagement exhibit titled “It Could Have Been Me.” Participants can contribute a photo or piece of artwork that represents their relationship with any of the three themes — Black joy, Black love, and Black family.
“It Could Have Been Me” launches early May 2021.
Learn More