REFLECT, CONVERSE AND CONTEMPLATE

The Speed Art Museum presents Breonna Taylor: In the Garden

June 7-November 26, 2023

The Speed Art Museum is honored to present In the Garden, a special installation centered around Amy Sherald’s portrait of the late Breonna Taylor, a 26-yearold Black woman who was murdered by Louisville Metro Police officers who entered her apartment in March 2020.

In the wake of this event and other violent instances around the country, massive protests demanding justice and renewed social equality for Black and brown bodies commenced across the world.

In the Garden, which is sited throughout Galleries 1 and 2, is a special presentation mounted to invite reflection, dialogue, and community contemplation. This installation, which also features artworks by leading contemporary artists Anthony Akinbola, Firelei Báez, Andrea Bowers, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, vanessa german, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Ebony G. Patterson, Nari Ward, T.A. Yero, and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, explores themes of loss, joy, injustice, growth, and sorrow.

“The Speed feels extremely privileged and humbled to serve as the steward of Amy Sherald’s portrait of Breonna Taylor,” says Tyler Blackwell, Curator of Contemporary Art. “Breonna Taylor’s story and legacy, as well as the ongoing quest for real justice to her memory looms large in our community and across the United States.”

In addition, Louisville artists Braylyn Resko Stewart and Sara Noori have been invited to create a site-specific mural in the museum’s galleries.

In the Garden was developed in close collaboration with Breonna Taylor’s family. Throughout the course of the installation, the Speed will offer public and community programming around the topics of personal and community healing, gun violence, and empowerment, beginning with After Hours on Friday, June 23.

Amy Sherald’s painting of Breonna Taylor was originally commissioned for Vanity Fair magazine’s September 2020 issue as a public memorial to Taylor’s life and the ongoing pursuit for social justice. In 2021, the portrait was jointly acquired by the Speed Art Museum in Louisville and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

In the Garden will be on view through November 26, 2023. Learn more about this installation and related programming at speedmuseum.org.

The Speed Art Museum is honored to present In the Garden, a special installation centered around Amy Sherald’s portrait of the late Breonna Taylor. The painting was originally commissioned for Vanity Fair magazine’s September 2020 issue as a public memorial to Taylor’s life and the ongoing quest for social justice. In the Garden is a special presentation mounted to invite reflection, dialogue, and community contemplation. This installation, which also features artworks by leading contemporary artists Anthony Akinbola, Firelei Báez, Andrea Bowers, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, vanessa german, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Ebony G. Patterson, Nari Ward, T.A. Yero, and Lynette YiadomBoakye, explores themes of loss, joy, injustice, growth, and sorrow.

Throughout the course of this installation, the Speed will offer public and community programming around the topics of personal healing, gun violence, and empowerment.