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# Week in Review: A Mural for George Floyd; Walker Art Center to Stop Working With Police Department
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/week-in-review-a-mural-for-george-floyd-walker-art-center-to-stop-working-with-police-department/
- Published: 2020-06-05T11:00:45.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:38:55.000Z
- Description: Also, a new grant for cultural critics of color, SFMOMA is accused of censoring a former Black employee, and more.
- Author: Cassie Packard
- Tags: News, Week in Review, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:41 (2019, 2020, part 2)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/mural-4.jpg)

*Week in Review is a weekly collection of news, developments, and stirrings in the art world.* [*Subscribe*](https://hyperallergic.com/newsletters?utm%5Fsource=page&utm%5Fcampaign=artmovements) *to receive these posts as a weekly newsletter.*

As protests against the murder of Black Minneapolis resident George Floyd continue, a group of local artists [created a mural to commemorate the slain 46-year-old](https://hyperallergic.com/george-floyd-mural-minneapolis/) at the street corner where he was choked to death by a white former police officer.

The Walker Art Center has pledged to [stop working with the Minneapolis Police Department ](https://hyperallergic.com/walker-art-center-minneapolis-police-department/)until it “implements meaningful change,” it said in a statement released yesterday. The decision has been one of the most significant actions taken by a cultural institution in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. 

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) was [accused of censoring a Black former employee](https://hyperallergic.com/sfmoma-george-floyd-instagram-comments-disabled/) after removing his comment from an Instagram post featuring a work by Glenn Ligon. The museum removed and disabled comments on the post, as institutions come under increasing scrutiny for vague or insubstantial expressions of solidarity for Black Lives Matter.

The Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City was criticized for[ allowing police to station on its premises last Friday](https://hyperallergic.com/nelson-atkins-museum-allows-police-to-station-on-premises-sparking-outcry/). The museum’s director told Hyperallergic that onsite security granted the request, and the police were later asked to relocate.

A new grant for cultural critics is awarding [unrestricted $500 grants to writers of color](https://hyperallergic.com/critics-of-color-can-apply-for-a-new-500-covid-19-grant/) who have been affected financially by the COVID-19 pandemic. The deadline to apply is June 8, 11:59pm EDT. 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/unnamed-4.jpg)

Artist Paul Mpagi Sepuya is [offering one of his photographs](https://hyperallergic.com/paul-mpagi-sepuya-donations/) to anyone who donates $250 or more to advocacy organizations like National Bail Out and #BlackLivesMatter-Los Angeles. Sepuya said he wants to “see receipts from non-Black collectors to know their interests in Black bodies aren’t salacious.”

An original mosaic floor from a Roman villa [has been uncovered in Negrar, a small township in northern Italy](https://hyperallergic.com/a-pristine-mosaic-floor-from-a-roman-villa-is-uncovered-in-italy/). Archaeologists successfully uncovered the beautifully tiled floor after decades of thwarted attempts.

The director of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Eike Schmidt, has suggested that religious artworks residing in institutional collections [should be returned to their respective places of worship](https://hyperallergic.com/uffizi-gallery-director-asks-that-religious-art-be-returned-to-churches/).

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/sll1.jpg)

An aerial view of the “Somos La Luz” mural in progress in the Queens Museum parking lot. (images by Eduardo Amorim and courtesy Greenpoint Innovations)

Artist Jorge Rodríguez-Gerada will [paint a 20,000-square-foot mural for healthcare workers at the Queens Museum](https://hyperallergic.com/queens-museum-healthcare-mural-covid-19/). “Somos La Luz” (“We Are the Light”), a painting of a masked medical professional, will be visible to satellites.

## Transactions

Le Musée d’Orsay in Paris [acquired Édouard Manet’s “Tête de jeune homme”](https://www.lefigaro.fr/arts-expositions/un-tableau-de-nbsp-jeunesse-de-manet-nbsp-rejoint-la-collection-du-musee-d-orsay-20200604?ref=hyperallergic.com) in an online sale at Christie’s. Made by Manet when he was just 21, the painting is based on a self-portrait by Quattrocento painter Filippino Lippi. Le Musée d’Orsay purchased the painting for €95,000 or about $106,000; it will join 29 other works by Manet in the museum’s collection.

In 2017, Floridian interior designer Antonio DiMarco, with the help of art advisor Joakim von Ditmar, [used a false identity to purchase two works at a Sotheby’s New York sale](https://apnews.com/42bd7d490d6a498a8dba581bfb478374?ref=hyperallergic.com): a Mark Rothko painting for $6.4 million, and an Ad Reinhardt painting for $1.2 million. Sotheby’s alerted the FBI; now, [the case has come to a close](https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/florida-man-who-bought-a-rothko-from-sotheby-s-using-a-stolen-identity-sentenced-to-4-5-years-in-prison?ref=hyperallergic.com). DiMarco was sentenced to 54 months in prison and ordered to pay $2.4 million in restitution.

At Munich’s Hermann Historica auction house, [an 1898 U.S. Medal of Honor sold for more than $15,000](https://news.artnet.com/market/us-medal-of-honor-auction-sale-1878006?ref=hyperallergic.com). The medal was bestowed upon army private Thomas Kelly for rescuing wounded soldiers during the Battle of San Juan Hill in Santiago, Cuba. Interest spiked in the lot when Texas senator Ted Cruz wrote to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo [urging him to work with German officials to cancel the sale](https://www.cruz.senate.gov/?p=press%5Frelease&id=5130&ref=hyperallergic.com).

## This Week in the Art World

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/ng_tomashi-jackson_ecology-of-fear_2020.jpg)

**Jane Moss** will step down as the artistic director of the **Lincoln Center**. | [ *New York Times*](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/29/arts/music/jane-moss-leaving-lincoln-center.html?ref=hyperallergic.com)

 **Night Gallery** in Los Angeles announced representation of **Tomashi** **Jackson**. | [Night Gallery](https://www.nightgallery.ca/news/night-gallery-to-represent-tomashi-jackson?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Lévy Gorvy** named **Elena Bonanno Di Linguaglossa** as its senior director in Italy. | [artnet](https://news.artnet.com/art-world/art-industry-news-may-30-stories-2-1873962?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Charles Desmarais** left his role as the ***San Francisco Chronicle*’s** art critic. | [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Artguy1/status/1266075975252537345?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Van Doren Waxter** in New York added **Jack Tworkov** to its roster. | [ARTnews](https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/breaking-art-industry-news-june-2020-week-1-1202689400/?ref=hyperallergic.com)

London’s **Frith Street Gallery** now represents the estate of **Nancy Spero**. | [Frith Street Gallery](https://www.frithstreetgallery.com/news/now-representing-the-estate-of-nancy-spero?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Roland Rudd** will be the new board chairman of the **Tate** in London. | [*Artforum*](https://www.artforum.com/news/tate-appoints-roland-rudd-board-chair-83159?ref=hyperallergic.com)

The **San José Institute of Contemporary Art (SJICA)** appointed **Alison Gass** as its new director. | [*Artforum*](https://www.artforum.com/news/san-jose-institute-of-contemporary-art-names-alison-gass-director-83164?ref=hyperallergic.com)

New York gallery **Danese/Corey** has announced that it will close. | [ARTnews](https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/breaking-art-industry-news-june-2020-week-1-1202689400/?ref=hyperallergic.com)

## In Memoriam

**Chris Beaty** (1981–2020), 38-year-old businessperson and former football player in Indianapolis | [ESPN](https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/%5F/id/29255616/ex-indiana-player-chris-beaty-shot-killed-weekend-indianapolis?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Christo** (1935–2020), public sculptor | [*The Guardian*](https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/jun/01/christo-obituary?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Elsa Dorfman** (1937–2020), portrait photographer | [*Artforum*](https://www.artforum.com/news/elsa-dorfman-1937-2020-83150?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Alice Negley Dorn** (1951–2020), Texan arts philanthropist | [*The Art Newspaper*](https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/alice-negley-lisa-dorn-texas-arts-philanthropist-has-died-aged-69?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**David Dorn** (­–2020), 77-year-old retired police officer in St. Louis | [NY Daily News](https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-st-louis-retired-police-captain-killed-facebook-live-20200602-4yrse62mb5b6bb4ymttowtqlt4-story.html?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Bruce Jay Friedman** (1930–2020), screenwriter | [Variety](https://variety.com/2020/film/news/bruce-jay-freidman-dead-90-splash-woody-allen-1234624764/?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Javar Harrell** (1999–2020), 21-year-old son in Detroit | [Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2020/06/03/at-least-12-have-died-in-nationwide-protests-heres-who-they-were/?ref=hyperallergic.com#2ef6d3739b32)

**Calvin L. Horton** (1977–2020), 43-year-old father in Minneapolis | [*Star Tribune*](https://www.startribune.com/man-shot-dead-outside-lake-street-pawnshop-during-unrest-is-identified/570865962/?refresh=true&ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Italia Kelly** (1998–2020), 22-year-old restaurant employee in Davenport | [Associated Press](https://apnews.com/18e8ec5a9b8e7175a128254d55df41e3?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**John Loengard** (1934–2020), *Life* photographer | [*The New York Times*](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/30/arts/john-loengard-dead.html?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**David McAtee** (1967–2020), 53-year-old barbeque restaurant owner in Louisville | [The Daily Beast](https://www.thedailybeast.com/david-mcatee-louisville-barbecue-cook-slain-by-cops-fed-the-police-for-free?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Dorian Murrell** (­2002–2020), 18-year old son in Indianapolis | [IndyStar](https://www.indystar.com/story/news/crime/2020/06/02/indianapolis-riots-arrest-made-fatal-shooting-18-year-old/3125859001/?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**James Scurlock** (1998–2020), 22-year-old son in Omaha | [The Daily Beast](https://www.thedailybeast.com/black-protester-james-scurlock-shot-to-death-outside-omaha-bar?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Benjamin Smalls** (1947–2020), lawyer and prison reformer | [*New York Times*](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/obituaries/benjamin-smalls-dead.html?ref=hyperallergic.com)

**Dave Patrick Underwood** (1967–2020), 53-year-old federal officer in Oakland | [The Richmond Standard](https://richmondstandard.com/community/2020/05/31/community-mourns-death-of-federal-officer-dave-patrick-underwood/?ref=hyperallergic.com)