Arts Communities

Southern Equality Studios Brings Art Projections Downtown

Photo by Liz Williams

By Emma Castleberry

On the evening of June 19, the Juneteenth holiday celebrating the liberation of enslaved peoples in America, artist Liz Williams projected a video art installation against the Vance Monument and the Asheville Art Museum.

With the intention of honoring the lives of Black people stolen through police brutality and transphobic violence, the video featured ethereal renderings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Nina Pop, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade and Marsha P. Johnson. “Across social media in late May and early June, we saw so many stark images of these individuals posted, and I really wanted to bring light and soul to their memories with animation and symbols of protest and triumph,” says Williams, manager of Southern Equality Studios (SES) at the Campaign for Southern Equality. Williams partnered with Al Murray, director of organizational development and engagement for the Campaign for Southern Equality, to realize the project. “Al and I decided that straightforward messages—Black Lives Matter, Defend Black Lives, Respect Black Lives and Amplify Black Lives—would be perfect to project onto the Vance Monument, as it is one of the most divisive and racist iconic structures in Asheville.”

Southern Equality Studios

Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd. Photos by Liz William

Murray and Williams have been collaborating as part of SES since January of 2019. “SES is a way for the Campaign for Southern Equality to bring artists and creatives into our organizing work,” says Murray, a sculptor. “Together, Liz and I end up creating surreal environments made up of portraits of our communities in one form or another. There is always movement and an aspect of activating the space we’re in. Liz really expresses feelings and captures emotion so well, and I’m very in tune with how people physically respond to and engage with art.”

In the last week of Pride Month, Williams and Murray partnered for another projection onto the Vance Monument’s obelisk, which included a vision of the Vance Monument crumbling with the text “DISMANTLE RACISM.” At the same time, an accompanying projection on the Asheville Art Museum celebrated “queer authors, activists and artists who have held a mirror of accountability to the repeated systemic racist, transphobic, homophobic and violent behavior against Black folks,” says Williams.

The scale and size of these projects are significant to their purpose. “The way these videos take over public space is powerful,” says Murray. “In this moment and historically, Black people and non-Black people of color [POC] are most likely to face lethal use of force by police. These communities are also, separately, most at-risk for COVID-19. We’ve seen how Black people and non-Black POC are having to take to the public square to defend their lives during this time when being in close proximity with others poses a health risk. This is injustice compounding injustice. We want the realities of racial injustice and police brutality to be at the forefront of Asheville’s consciousness, and this is one way to help.”

The pair intend to work on future installations across town, displaying more of Williams’ work on other surfaces and continuing to project on the Vance Monument until it is gone. “The overall support from the public has been incredibly encouraging,” says Williams, “which makes us want to keep the pressure on the community to stay active and demand change.”

As of this month, Williams has begun an artist residency at REVOLVE Gallery that will incorporate collaborations with Southern Equality Studios’ queer artist collective. To learn more, visit SouthernEquality.org.

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