Vanessa German is going for a walk to pay tribute to George Floyd and other people of color lost to violence.
German, a citizen-artist from Homewood, will lead The Blue Walk on Thursday. It is what she called “a reckoning ritual.”
The 2.5 mile-procession will be in honor of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain and other people of color whose lives have been lost to violence. Tuesday marked the 1-year anniversary of Floyd’s murder by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
“Part of my work in performance has been rooted in the process of bringing voices and deep intentions to any issue that is part of the work I am doing,” said German, who has led similar walks in Pittsburgh, Charlottesville, Va., and Omaha, Neb., with her previous exhibition “sometimes.we.cannot.be.with.our.bodies.”
She said this walk is about extended grief and being alive in a Black body, or a trans(gender) body or a queer body. German talked about the trauma of not just individuals but of the earth with the deaths of Floyd, Taylor, McClain and other people of color.
As an artist it’s about making space for reckoning to allow the trauma to be processed, she said.
“We need to move to a deep empowerment that human beings hold our lives and experiences in a way to keep the kind of lynching and street-corner executions from happening,” she said. “We want to suffocate the air that fuels the fire of black death.”
German said the walk “calls in the thundering wholeness of Black bodies on this land. Its activations are love, grief, rage and deep connection.”
On Thurs., May 27, beginning at 6:30 p.m., Vanessa German will lead the Blue Walk, a reckoning ritual involving a 2.5 mile procession honoring George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain, and other people of color whose lives have been lost to violence. https://t.co/DH2korhT6M
— The Frick Pittsburgh (@TheFrickPgh) May 13, 2021
The route begins at 6:30 p.m. at the ArtHouse at 7703 Hamilton Ave. in Homewood to the Frick Art Museum on 7227 Reynolds St. in Point Breeze back to the ArtHouse.
German created the ArtHouse as a place for kids to come and create without stress and tension.
The property was damaged in a fire in February. A GoFundMe raised $125,795. German said she hasn’t begun repairing it yet because she is waiting for a permit from the city to begin work on the damaged roof.
During the walk, German will be accompanied by 12 local performers who will present songs on the steps of the Frick Art Museum, where she currently is collaborating on a multi-year visiting artist partnership. It includes a large-scale exhibition in 2023, a retrospective of German’s 25 years as an artist in Pittsburgh. Her current work there is “Nothing can separate you from the language you cry in: Reckoning: Grief and Light.”
People are invited to join the procession at any time.
Attendees are asked to stay on sidewalks.
