When Seattle became the first major American epicenter of the Coronavirus outbreak, artists responded. Burgandy; Baso Fibonacci; Dozfy; Kreau; Stephanie Morales, a.k.a. AxSM Art; Josephine Rice; and Sakura Schlegel created murals on the Seattle streets to uphold civic wellbeing and express solidarity during isolated quarantine. These large-scale plywood murals were created to help small businesses retain customers, express gratitude toward essential workers, and amplify the injustices plaguing intersectional Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities. The public art works interrogate the multilayered cultural, economic, racial, and health crises that solidified 2020 as a landmark year and was produced in collaboration with featured artists.

Injustice Murals was curated to amplify the shared compassion, pain, and love experienced by the community of Capitol Hill and city of Seattle. The murals highlight mutual aid and racial inequity, and some were created within the Cal Anderson Park Organized Protest. The art itself, mirroring Seattle residents, has undergone transformation and trauma, having been exposed to CS gas, blast ball explosives, and pathogenic contagion. The artwork has inspired residents to scream joyful noise to celebrate healthcare workers, and honor those who senselessly lost their lives to the pandemic, racism, and unaccountable justice systems.

Injustice Murals curator Dawn Dailey is a Korean American single working mother, master’s candidate, and social and racial justice practitioner. This exhibition was made possible through the Emerging Curator Initiative at the University of Washington’s Museology Program in collaboration with the Bellevue Arts Museum.

The curator and Bellevue Arts Museum would like to acknowledge that this exhibit takes place on the unceded ancestral lands of the Coast Salish people, including the Sammamish, Duwamish, and Suquamish People past and present. We respectfully recognize with gratitude the land itself and the Sammamish, Duwamish, and Suquamish Tribes. A people that continues to occupy this land and bring to light their ancient heritage. This acknowledgement does not take the place of authentic relationships with indigenous communities but seeks to serve as a first step in honoring the local lands and water that we are on.

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