The Race in America gallery located at Drury’s C Street gallery will be available for viewing November 6th-25th from 12:00-4:00pm Monday through Friday. The Gallery will contain art that depicts the experiences of people of color living in America and the unique struggles that comes with those experiences. The gallery will contain pieces from artists all over the country, as well as local and Drury artists.

“The theme for the gallery is ‘Race in America.’ It portrays what it is like to live in America as a person of color and what we, as Americans, can do to improve racial equality. There will be pieces that tell the artists’ personal experiences living in America and other pieces will provide commentary of the current events happening. Overall, these pieces tell the story of people of color living in our America,” said host of the gallery Nikki Pastor.

Nikki said The Race in America gallery was inspired by the protest over the summer following the death of George Floyd and the collective outrage all across America. “I, like many others, was furious that black people were still being murdered without mercy and justice. I watched as some of my friends courageously took to the streets, putting themselves at risk of the police and the pandemic, to protest the injustices black people face every day. I did what I could do as well—such as donating to the Equal Justice Initiative and spreading awareness on social media. However, I knew my efforts were still not enough. I knew the protests would decrease and the conversation about racial injustice would, sadly, die out. But these conversations should never stop. We should continue to fight for justice and talk about the racial inequality that plagues our country. That’s why I wanted to hold this art gallery, so we can continue the discussion of race in America and have people of color’s voices be heard.”

Nikki explained that the Race in America gallery is very important to her, not just because she is the host but because it helps spread awareness and lets people of color have somewhere to voice their stories. “I have been working on this gallery since July, so I dedicated a lot of time to this project. I am not an arts administration student; I’m majoring in psychology and music. Therefore, I have no academic motivation to host this gallery. I wanted to host this gallery because I believe it was a necessity. When I think about this gallery, I think of the stories that people of color want to tell and the people who need to hear those stories.”

Nikki is excited to finally see all the work come together and hopes that Drury students come to see the gallery and learn something from it.

There will be another gallery in February titled ‘Say Their Names: Black Lives Matter’ that will complement the Race in America gallery. “It will feature presentations from Drury students of color. This gallery will be dedicated to the people who lost their lives due to police brutality. The gallery is also accepting works that highlight the Black Lives Matter protests that occurred over the summer. The details of the gallery are still in the works,” said Nikki about the next gallery.

Written by Marissa Mayfield