Remembrance Project Art Competition Details/Rules

NAACP DeKalb County & City of Lithonia Remembrance Project Art Competition/

 

The NAACP DeKalb County, the City of Lithonia, and the Lithonia Business Association are partnering with the  Equal Justice Initiative and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice  to unveil a permanent memorial dedicated to DeKalb County victims of lynching and racial terrorism.  The memorial will be located on the grounds of the DeKalb County Courthouse in Decatur, Georgia.  An historical marker will also be installed in a new Plaza in the City of Lithonia, where several lynchings occurred.

We invite DeKalb adult and high school artists to be an integral part of this commemoration by participating in a competition of original artwork that speaks to the significance of this memorial.  Entries should address the events being memorialized, but could also draw connections to current social issues and demonstrate why future generations should not forget the realities of racial terrorism.  There are many concepts to be considered, and each artist may choose the issues to be represented by original art.

As artists begin to conceptualize their entries, they are urged to review these websites:  https://eji.org/ and https://museumandmemorial.eji.org/ and consider the following concepts

  • What is white supremacy in 2019, and how has it altered since the end of the era of lynching?
  • What was the impact of lynching on African American communities?
  • What roles have stereotypes of African-Americans played in racial terrorism or lynching?
  • How are African-Americans vulnerable to violence inside and outside the criminal justice system?
  • What was the fundamental motivation of those who participated in lynching and terrorism?
  • Does that motivation still exist today, and if so, in what different forms?
  • How do we see the effects of racial terrorism and lynching on African-Americans and on society?
  • How and why have we avoided discussion/displays of the effects of racial terrorism or lynching?
  •  Why recognize such injustice years after the death of the person who was murdered?
  • How does mass incarceration relate to this topic and how does it affect African American communities?

SUBMISSION DETAILS

Artwork may take any form, use any medium(s) and be of any size.  Entries must be submitted by MARCH 15, 2020 to the attention of Charles Anderson at the Lithonia City Hall, 6920 Main Street, Lithonia, GA 30035.  It should be submitted along with the following information:

  • Artist Name
  • School (if applicable)
  • Full Address
  • Phone Number
  • E-Mail Address

Entries will be judged by a panel of local artists and art educators.  Selected artwork will be on display at a month long show focused on lynching and racial terrorism in DeKalb County.  All entrants will be notified of the competition results and will be invited to the memorial unveilings and to the opening of the art show.  Artists whose work is selected for display will be able to reclaim their work, if they wish, following the show.  Alternatively, at the discretion of the artist, works  may be permanently displayed (or sold) at  Lithonia locations determined by mutual agreement.  All art that is not selected may be reclaimed in March of 2020. 

For additional information, contact charles.anderson@lithoniacity.org.

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