George Floyd
Protest is Art
These two tags were spray-painted along the walkway in front of the Mark Building Sunday night. There are many other tags throughout the campus. While part of me hates that our museum buildings were defaced, at the same time I want these two tags to stay, at least for a while. Because they are true. Our buildings—our institution—can and should carry the weight of their meaning.
I fully understand the reasoning behind removing these spray-painted messages, and they may already be gone by now. But the residue remains. Sometimes we photo historians call this residue the index—the having been there. Our buildings have been here nearly 100 years, and even if the graffiti goes away within 24 hours, it was there. George Floyd was alive. Protest is art. We have much work to do. Let’s not deny or forget the residue.
—Julia Dolan, Curator of Photography
