Artist Shanequa Gay Creates Space For Honoring Breonna Taylor With Acrylics And Oils

WUNC | By Frank Stasio,

Published November 6, 2020 at 12:17 PM EST

Artist Shanequa Gay's exhibit "Holding Space for Nobility: A Memorial for Breonna Taylor" is open for virtual view at the Ackland Art Museum in Chapel Hill.

When a Kentucky grand jury failed to indict police officers responsible for killing 26-year-old Breonna Taylor, multidisciplinary artistShanequa Gay turned to her work in a search for justice. Her exhibit “holding space for nobility: a memorial for Breonna Taylor” opened last week at the Ackland Art Museum in Chapel Hill.

Host Frank Stasio talks with multidisciplinary artist Shanequa Gay about her exhibit "Holding Space for Nobility: A Memorial for Breonna Taylor," now on virtual view at the Ackland Art Museum.

With oils and acrylics, Gay combined larger-than-life images of Taylor with nature and animals that represent unity and community. Gay’s own experience with a loss that left her family with many unanswered questions sparked her desire to build artistic spaces for memorializing lost life. Host Frank Stasil talks with Gay about the exhibit and what it means to “hold space” through art.

Frank Stasio

Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.

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Kaia Findlay

Kaia Findlay is a producer for The State of Things, WUNC's daily, live talk show. Kaia grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in a household filled with teachers and storytellers. In elementary school, she usually fell asleep listening to recordings of 1950s radio comedy programs. After a semester of writing for her high school newspaper, she decided she hated journalism. While pursuing her bachelor’s in environmental studies at UNC-Chapel Hill, she got talked back into it. Kaia received a master’s degree from the UNC Hussman School of Journalism, where she focused on reporting and science communication. She has published stories with Our State Magazine, Indy Week, and HuffPost. She most recently worked as the manager for a podcast on environmental sustainability and higher education. Her reporting passions include climate and the environment, health and science, food and women’s issues. When not working at WUNC, Kaia goes pebble-wrestling, takes long bike rides, and reads while hammocking.

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