The Sculpture Center: Art in Our Midst
Our Lives Matter mural by Robin Robinson and Gary Williams, presented in augmented reality in
front of the Cuyahoga County Courthouse by Nancy Baker Cahill, and visible through her 4th Wall app.
The recent mass protests ignited by senseless killings at the hands of police magnify the persistent racism that exists today. The Sculpture Center stands united with the Black community, and we are committed to using our voice to build equity in our community and address systemic racism.
In the past we have used our galleries and exhibitions to advance discussions on race and social equity, and we will continue to provide voice to these issues. Art matters to us because it illustrates the human experience—the wonder of it, the bewilderment of it, and the tragedy of it. It matters because art provides a safe space to meet and talk with one another and find common ground.
On Juneteenth, the Sculpture Center revealed the work Our Lives Matter in augmented reality (AR) by Cleveland artists Robin Robinson and Gary Williams, in collaboration with LA-based artist Nancy Baker Cahill and her free app, 4th Wall. AR superimposes an image onto a user’s view of the real world, and it is redefining the landscape of public art. It is viewable 24 hours a day without environmental damage. Our Lives Matter is geo-located in front of the Cuyahoga County Courthouse and the block-long stretch of Lakeside Avenue. To view it on-site, one must first download Cahill’s free app 4th Wall onto a phone or tablet.
Robinson and Williams’s powerful mural was created in response to the rise of non-accidental police killing of Black people between 2014 and 2015. It also references 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, who was shot and killed by a neighborhood watchman in 2012 partly because he was racially profiled for wearing a hoodie. The original mural on East 105 and Yale Avenue was created in 2015 with support from the Ohio Arts Council and the United Black Fund of Greater Cleveland.
One of LA Times ARTS Faces of 2019, artist Nancy Baker Cahill, explores the tension between violence and healing through immersive media. She created her 4th Wall app to serve as a public art platform encouraging resistance and creative expression.
Our Lives Matter in AR is part of Art in Our Midst, The Sculpture Center’s new series of curated, outdoor sculpture tours. Art in our Midst: Cleveland, co-curated by Andrea Gyorody and Lo Smith, serves as a platform for discourse on issues of racial inequality, while offering residents and visitors a lively, tactile, and safe experience with art during the COVID-19 pandemic.
OUR LIVES MATTER IN AUGMENTED REALITY | OUTDOORS AND ONGOING
ART IN OUR MIDST: CURATED, SELF-GUIDED OUTDOOR SCULPTURE TOURS | OUTDOORS & ONGOING IN CLEVELAND, COLUMBUS, TOLEDO, & CINCINNATI
THE SHAPE OF SCULPTURE: RECENT CRANBROOK GRADUATES | SEPTEMBER 12-NOVEMBER 7
AIMEE LEE AND SARAH ROSE LEJEUNE | NOVEMBER 20-JANUARY 16
The Sculpture Center
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Cleveland, OH 44106
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