Poa Draft 2

1
HOW ART INFLUENCES THE WORLD

SOCIETY AND BLM PROTEST
Written by: Aidan V, Alex S, Danica C, and Giovanni R.
December 14, 2021
Art is a very broad topic that can be discussed in many ways. We can recognize art through the ages from the
realistic paintings of the Renaissance to abstract works of Yoshitomo Nara. In a way, art speaks for itself and
can show a snippet in time, tell a story, or even have visual meaning.
2
Baratz, David. “Murals Honor George Floyd and Black Lives Matter Movement.”
As art does capture historical events, the radical understanding of art and its meaning changes
throughout eras. Conveying rich quality, art holds moments in time that are important yet are not
learned from when mistakes occur. If art is created with hope of changing the future, it unfortunately
hasn’t done that for the American story. However, art takes a crucial role in storytelling, and hopes for
the future, and balancing justice, and spreading awareness. These ideals were challenged to the public as
a virus spread across the world during 2020.
Art Telling a Story

3
Since March 2020, the whole world was sent inside due to the worldwide pandemic, in which the “Black Lives
Matter” Movement became prominent during this time. Not being effective from its first trial, it didn’t come
back into fruition until the killing of George Floyd. Affecting the entire nation through the media, his funeral
was honored, to show as another form of protest. As well as after WW2, artists in Los Angelas also created their
own protest art that showed empowerment and influence of the war. Protest art is important because it shows
how people showed their way of protest through visual art and how people in the past created the same
empowering pieces as we do today. Another thing they show is that they visually tell you the story meaning of
the piece they created.
Through the creation of those art pieces, most artists have a certain story behind them. An artist named, Faith
Ringgold, created a piece called the “United States of Attica”, which is a map green and red painted map with
dates of different events regarding the Civil Rights Movement and the deaths of well-known African American
leaders. For example, The 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King in Tennessee. According to Ringgold,
her piece was trying to show, “their loss of roots and inequity in history, along with the bravery of the oppressed
when they fight for their freedom” Through her work, was trying to tell a story about an important event and the
symbolism used to help visualize these events through the map she created. It expresses the events that made
the Civil Rights Movement an important time in history.
Mack Kemani, a deaf African American social media artist, creates art based off his emotional struggles and his
open opinions on the Civil Rights Movement. According to the article, “Art as a Protest: Lincoln’s Black Artists
Raise the Flag." explains, “his talents to make a statement advocating for better treatment of Black Americans.”
Through his art he wants to create a discussion about a very problematic topic. Although having conversations
about race is difficult, his painting shows his views that make people also want their thoughts out there and start
their own discussions. As these two artists share their thoughts through art, it influences more people to learn
more and want to be a part of the movement themselves
4
In the New York Amsterdam News, Johan Jackson made a mural for George Floyd, in hopes to have people see
the message and understand what it says. His mural consists of George Floyd holding up three fingers as a sign
of Third Ward, a known way to specify the area for locals, while having dominoes next to his hand, to signify
the letters “A R D” to complete the word. “He hopes... to be an agent of change, "It's important for me to speak
through art because it's a way for me to unify Black people creatively by giving them something appealing to
the eye but also having a message behind it"(Nance-Nash). Hope is what keeps the people fighting for each
other. He hopes this will keep those who don’t know to be able to know. He hopes it reaches out far enough to
give others hope.
In Meridian Street, Indianapolis, plywood walls were set up for artists to show their work for what had
happened recently at that time, where protests were broken up by violence. Artists like Mechi Shakur, made a
mural to hope that others understand and “pushes a dialogue among people who haven't personally been
affected by police brutality,” (Bongiovanni) when others can’t see the problem. His art shows the names of
those who were killed as well as the words like “civil rights,” “freedom,” and words like that being ran over by
the police, to show that it will keep on piling up if nothing stops it.
During 2016, the Black Lives' Matter movement began with artworks such as "Slow Dirt" by Helina Meta Feria
who advocated for racial equality. A statement from Financial Times explains, "Explicitly honoring ancestry
and loss, it's a piece that's perfectly configured for today's avid, race-aware collector. Rakeb Sile, whose gallery
Addis Fine Art represents Meta Feria, confirms that international interest in her work has dramatically increased
as black protest and anti-racist allyship took center stage in the pandemic." It is important to consider that the
5
original BLM protest took place during 2015, not gaining as much attention as the performance of 2016. Due to
this drastic change in public interest, it depended on the public associating with the movement's activism.
Helina Metaferia, "Slow Dirt". Helina Metaferia, Five Myles Gallery, Brooklyn 2016 NY.
Basing on the UK government with its past within keeping African slaves, the BLM movement has pushed the
creativity of people within the nation of the UK. The financial times quotes, "The commercial art market has
6
been following this trend [African diaspora creativity] for the past decade or more but now we have Africans on
both sides of the table, as collectors, producers and makers." According to this statement, it is indicated that
within the expansion of art across the globe, the BLM: movement began progressing due to an effort of
communication, where protest spread artwork and media to even more of the population. What sparks the
community to justify awareness of racial inequality is the right form of art to influence the public, in which the
media expands this message prior to the movement.
Another capability that protest art has is to spread awareness and introduce different perspectives. BLM has
influenced many people in the US. The article “#BLM Art Across the U.S.” by New York Amsterdam News,
showcases examples of BLM art across the nation. These examples of where influence has reached in the nation
include cities like Detroit and New York City. With these examples of how BLM has influenced artists all over
the country, it shows how art has helped spread greater messages and ideas around for a good cause.
Since this art has been a big factor in BLM, it is known that artists are willingly fighting for civil rights through
artistic expression. This quote from the same article by New York Amsterdam News, “Minneapolis is the
epicenter of the street art around Black Lives Matter and the murder of George Floyd. Nearly every boarded-up
window and blank wall in the area of Lake Street and the Chicago and 38th Street memorial have been painted
by artists”, supports the idea of artists expressing themselves for civil rights. Knowing the purpose of various
artworks is to spread awareness on the movement, it is clear that this art has the ability to spread awareness in
the US.
When a newly offered idea of a BLM Mural was proposed to cover a 25-year-old mural. Many of the residents,
however, disliked this very much. In response to this, the group who wanted to make the art had said, “In a
statement on their Facebook page, Pink Flamingo said they've received "violent vitriol (high criticism), racism
7
and threats” (Smith). The people had such bad views on the new art, they became enraged about the art, not
even caring about the message it gives.
What’s the Issue Here?

When a mayor in Utah had commissioned murals to be part of the recent controversies while trying not to be
problematic. With one of the murals having “Black Lives Matter,” he had the city council turned against him as
he didn’t have proper approval with the city’s art commissioners, and apparently wasn’t very “transparent”
about it. When the new elections were happening, he thought that “[his] opponent saw an opportunity,” and for
the past year has been hammering the message “that we were deliberately trying to divide the community and
the local media here has eaten it up like candy. This caused chaos not only for the city council, but the people as
well. He was once a favorite candidate, was then at a struggle in votes against him, with accusations that “The
police department wasn’t aware of what was about to happen. Our Main Street merchants weren’t aware of
what was about to happen “(Gehrke). These made it easy for the opponent to spread disparity amongst the
people, even though her statements weren't true.
A few might suggest that proactivity during the pandemic would help keep the BLM movement in motion.
According to University Line, "AASS senior student success specialist Johana Gourdin said the discussion is
crucial because the world will “never be the same,” even when the hashtag stops trending." With artists striving
to make a difference in the world, it must also be taken into consideration that the world will not change until
the people within it decide to change.
The University Line states, "Brown kicked off the discussion by clarifying the BLM hashtag promotes justice
for Black lives but more specifically initiates discourse regarding police brutality and the prison industrial
complex. She said once the hashtag stops trending, society needs to read, watch and learn." Learning to read,
8
watch and learn are the most basic and effective forms of informing the public, in which BLM enrolls the idea
that the media, including artists, must contribute to the change in society.
While it is true that such acts of protest will spark controversy, it is necessary for the possibility of change.
There cannot be protest without disagreement, but the idea of it is to come to a consensus within society. The
African American community in the past had fought for their rights, even if it meant taking extreme measures.
What supports this is the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. With enough effort, there is a strong potential
for change. As for artists’ efforts not being enough, it takes every effort to cause change. Artists have the
advantage of finding a greater message in the art they create, and they can open new perspectives for people. It
is important for people including artists to do everything they can to aspire for change and the improvement of
everyone.
Again, protest art plays a significant role in civil rights movements. This art encourages people to stand up for
causes, it is important for people to understand artists’ efforts so that historical problems will not surface once
more. The more people are aware, the more likely it is for change and progress to happen. Only when there is a
society that is welcome to artistic expression, can there be this change and progress as well.
The Final Piece

The efforts of the BLM movement were strongly influenced by the past struggles of communities all over the
world as the denial of racial heritage was at hand of the public perspective. In strong reminder, it must be
acknowledged that past events such as the death of George Floyd, a black rights' activist who inspired the
community of black people. In conclusion art should be acknowledged through all forms, as change can
subdue the public into any possible changes as long as those changes inform or persuade the public
9
among the blemished state of modern life. Now what can be decided by you, is how can you influence change
throughout the world through art?
10
Sources Cited
"Art as a Protest: Lincoln’s Black Artists Raise the Flag." University Wire, 21 Mar 2021. eLibrary,
https://explore.proquest.com/elibrary/document/2503208332?accountid=143906.
Baratz, David. “Murals Honor George Floyd and Black Lives Matter Movement.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite
Information Network, 25 May 2021, https://www.usatoday.com/picture-
gallery/news/nation/2020/06/06/murals-honor-george-floyd-and-black-lives-matter-
movement/3164531001/.
11
"Black Lives Matter: From a Death in Police Custody to a National Reckoning." New York Times, 13 Dec 2020.
eLibrary, https://explore.proquest.com/elibrary/document/2469564361?accountid=143906.
"BLM Mural Makes Statement in Arts Building." University Wire, 23 Sep 2020. eLibrary,
Bongiovanni, Domenica. "How Downtown Became a Living Art Gallery." Indianapolis Star, 13 Jun 2020.
Gehrke, Robert. "A Controversial Black Lives Matter Mural is Overshadowing Crucial Issues in Park City’s
Mayoral Race, Robert Gehrke Writes." The Salt Lake Tribune, 28 Oct 2021. eLibrary,
"Has BLM really Changed the Arts?" Financial Times, 25 May 2021, pp. 20. eLibrary,
"Has BLM really Changed the Arts?" Financial Times, 25 May 2021, pp. 20. eLibrary,
Helina Metaferia, "Slow Dirt". Helina Metaferia, Five Myles Gallery, Brooklyn 2016 NY.
https://www.helinametaferia.com/performances/slow-dirt.
12
Lescaze, Zoë, Nancy Hass, and M. H. Miller. "Influential American Protest Art." New York Times, 18 Oct 2020.
McWhorter, John. "Black Lives Matter is Living in the Past."eLibrary, 28 Sep 2015,
Nance-Nash, Sheryl. "#BLM Art Across the U.S." New York Amsterdam News, Jun 2020, pp. 19. eLibrary,
Nance-Nash, Sheryl. "#BLM Art Across the U.S." New York Amsterdam News, Jun 2020, pp. 19. eLibrary,
Nisoli, Beatrice. "African American Student Services Discusses Future Steps for BLM Activism." University
Wire, 03 Jul 2020. eLibrary, https://explore.proquest.com/elibrary/document/2419747772?accountid=143906.
Smith, Madeline. "Black Lives Matter Mural Delayed by 'Violent Vitriol'." Calgary Herald, 13 Aug 2020.
"The Art of Protesting." University Wire, 07 Oct 2020. eLibrary,

13

Poa Draft 2

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Poa Draft 2

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

1

HOW ART INFLUENCES THE WORLD

Art Telling a Story

What’s the Issue Here?

The Final Piece

"The Art of Protesting." University Wire, 07 Oct 2020. eLibrary,

You might also like