Requiem+for+Charleston

Date: 2016
 * [[image:http://ids.si.edu/ids/deliveryService?id=http://americanart.si.edu/images/2017/2017.4A-Y_1a.jpg&max=460 link="@http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=111153"]] || Title: **Requiem for Charleston**

Artist: **Lava Thomas** Born: Los Angeles, California 1958

Medium: tambourines, pyrographic calligraphy on lambskin, acrylic discs and braided trim Dimensions: overall: 76 × 77 × 2 3/8 in. (193.0 × 195.6 × 6.0 cm) Smithsonian American Art Museum Gift of Nion McEvoy © 2016, Lava Thomas

Accession: 2017.4A-Y || //Requiem for Charleston// honors the nine men and women who died in a shooting on June 17, 2015, inside the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Tambourines with black lambskin heads are inscribed with the victims' names, while the drums of others are made of polished black acrylic that reflect the faces of viewers, suggesting the collective tragedy of the attack. Artist Lava Thomas chose to memorialize the dead with tambourines because of their cultural and historical significance, particularly their role in African American musical traditions-including protest songs of the civil rights era. In the days following the Charleston massacre, tambourines, cymbals, and bells rang throughout the community as a call for unity and support. Here the instruments hang motionless, in silent tribute to the lives lost.
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The names of the individuals who were killed (beginning at the apex clockwise ending in the center):
 * About the Artwork: **
 * Cynthia Marie Graham Hurd (54) – Bible study member and manager for the Charleston County Public Library system; sister of Malcolm Graham (a former Democratic state senator from North Carolina)
 * Susie Jackson (87) – a Bible study and church choir member.
 * Depayne Middleton-Doctor (49) – a pastor who was also employed as a school administrator and admissions coordinator at Southern Wesleyan University.
 * Ethel Lee Lance (70) – the church's sexton.
 * Myra Thompson (59) – a Bible study teacher.
 * Tywanza Sanders (26) – a Bible study member; grandnephew of Susie Jackson.
 * Daniel Simmons (74) – a pastor who also served at Greater Zion AME Church in Awendaw.
 * Sharonda Coleman-Singleton (45) – a pastor; also a speech therapist and track coach at Goose Creek High School.
 * Clementa C. Pinckney (41) – the church's pastor and a South Carolina state senator.

The victims were later collectively known as "The Charleston Nine".

Meet the Artist: Lava Thomas Requiem for Charleston, Lava Thomas - artist website Charleston Church Shooting - Wikipedia Entry Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church - Wikipedia Entry Remarks by the President in Eulogy for the Honorable Reverend Clementa Pinckney Shovels & Rope "BWYR" - Singer/ Songwriting Duo from Charleston, SC. "BWYR" is their song in response to the shooting Janelle Monae "Hell You Talmbout - Singer/Songwriter who wrote a protest song in response to the larger issue of shootings of black Americans After Trageday, Healing a Charleston Church - The Daily 360, the New York Times
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SAAM Collections Page Artist Biography
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