West Coalition Exhibit Statement:

The Let Them Speak: Their Beauty, Our Hearts art exhibit at The Peale June 20th-July 26th will highlight the impact, and humanize the victims of police brutality and corruption by letting their artistic “voices” tell others their message, and show the beauty that lies within them. Too often the narrative about what happened to victims of police brutality is dictated by the police and victims are criminalized and dehumanized in the process to support that narrative.  The real story of those who lost their lives or continue to be impacted by the brutality they experienced, is told by their family members and through the art and artifacts they left behind or continue to create.  This exhibit will feature the portrait art of Tyrone West, shoe art of Xavier Hill, the fashion of Donnell Rochester, and the fine art of Adiena Britt.  All victims who have a story to tell. You will hear and see more about the lives we have lost and how their lives would have enriched all of us had they still been with us.

The effect of police brutality and corruption well after the fact has a lasting impact on the families of those affected directly and on all of us in the community.  Another piece of this exhibit will focus on that impact through statements by family members, and those that continue to struggle to get accountability for their loved ones.  Through art, images, and videos, that struggle and those that have documented it will be on display to show how difficult it is to fight a system that is unwilling to hold perpetrators accountable when they are law enforcement officers.  In addition, it will show the fortitude and commitment that those who are fighting the system have demonstrated.  Among the artists whose work will be on display are Tawanda Jones, Analysis (the poet), Neil Norris, Son of Nun, Bill Bleich, Anson Asaka, Shorty, Joseph Mario Giardano, Bryan Robinson and Hilary Hellerbach.