Portrait of Breonna Taylor Shines as Centerpiece at Smithsonian Exhibit

In Summary

Breonna Taylor, whose 2020 death sparked nationwide protests, will have a portrait displayed on the fourth floor of the National Museum of African American History and Culture as part of the museum’s new exhibition, "Reckoning: Protest. Defiance. Resilience."  

#SayHerName and see the beautifully captured portrait of Breonna Taylor at the Smithsonian on Friday. 

Taylor, whose 2020 death sparked nationwide protests, will have a portrait displayed on the fourth floor of the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) as part of the museum’s new exhibition, “Reckoning: Protest. Defiance. Resilience.”  

In the portrait, Taylor is shown wearing a turquoise dress. It also shows Taylor wearing the engagement ring her boyfriend Kenneth Walker had planned to give her before her death.  

The portrait was created by Amy Sherald, the same artist who painted the portrait of Michelle Obama featured in the in the National Portrait Gallery.  

Taylor also was featured on the cover of Vanity on Aug. 24, 2020.  

Taylor, 26, was fatally shot in her apartment in Louisville, Kentucky on March 13, 2020.  

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“Visual artists have long evoked questions of beauty and history, and the Black painters, sculptors, photographers, and textile artists featured in this show exemplify the tradition of resilience in times of conflict and the ritual and even defiant pleasures of creation,” said Kevin Young, the Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. “The show continues to tell the story of the centrality of the Black experience found in the entire Museum, while also connecting to our current moment, filled with the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and racism and an ongoing renaissance of Black art and artistry.”   

RelatedBody Camera Footage of Breonna Taylor Raid Has to Exist, Lawsuit Says  

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