Birmingham Sky Map

Celestia Morgan, American

Birmingham Sky Map, 2019

This sky map is from Birmingham, Alabama, based artist Celestia Morgan’s series REDLINE. It shows a shape pulled from a redlining map of Birmingham placed in the sky. This piece is based on Bart Slawson’s quote “Where a child grows up should not dictate where they end up” and the saying “the sky is the limit.” Morgan has seen first hand how redlining can stifle communities through enforcing poverty and poor environmental conditions. Drawing these lines in the sky shows the disconnect between the ideal of endless possibilities and the reality of systemic barriers. Label by Becca Gurysh

Coal Blooded

Living Together / Living Apart Media, American

Coal Blooded (film still), 2022

The captured image juxtaposes King Lincoln Park and the massive coal terminals located in the eastern end of Newport News, Virginia. At the forefront of the image, the viewer is presented with sprawling greenspace at King Lincoln Park, which appears orderly and subdued in comparison to the hulking piles of coal looming in the background. While the viewer could attempt to reconcile the piles of coal with the recreational space in the coal’s proximity, we have not yet considered who is using and living around this recreational space. As Coal Blooded notes, coal terminals in Newport News are placed in proximity to marginalized communities. Not only are their homes coated with coal dust, but Black and Brown individuals are inhaling the coal dust around their homes and in recreational spaces. And the placement of these coal terminals are no accident, deliberately determined by redlining, and the looming piles of coal in Newport News are not the only ones throughout the nation. Label by Eliza Madison

Titusville

Celestia Morgan, American

Titusville, 2019

Titusville by Celestia Morgan depicts an outline of the redlined neighborhoods in Birmingham, Alabama, overlaid with the sky of that area. I believe this image effectively captures the invisible threats of redlining. Observing an area, one might not assume there would be any air quality or environmental issues, but the history of discrimination that created them has an invisible hand on the community that will persist if not addressed. This image reminds me to be aware of the possible injustices around us and not forget why they are there. Label by Jackson Smith

The Titusville photograph is a part of a collection of various sky photographs that together make Morgan’s series Sky Maps. In this series, Morgan overlays sections of maps that depict relined neighborhoods in Birmingham from the 1933 Home Owner’s Loan Corporation onto photographs of bright blue skies and dreamy clouds. Sky Maps, including Titusville, critically examine the physical boundaries of redlining compared to the hopes and aspirations of people living in redlined communities. The clear sky photographs can also juxtapose the air pollution that surrounds areas that were previously relined. If the sky is truly the limit, then hope exists for working towards a future that breaks redlined boundaries and prioritizes environmental justice for all communities. Label by Bayleigh Albert

Ice Cream Melting

Najee Dorsey, American

Ice Cream Melting, 2019

Part of Artist Najee’s Poor People’s Campaign, Ice Cream Melting depicts the struggle of black communities who live in plain sight of factories and businesses that harm their health. Dorsey purchased a billboard in South Memphis to display this work of digital photomontage, calling attention to air pollution from hazardous chemicals affecting poor people of color in that area. Ice Cream Melting combines an Afrofuturist style with depictions of the American South, capturing how a future filled with corporate greed and segregation creates a toxic landscape harming the nation's youth. The work shows a young Black child holding a SpongeBob popsicle, representing innocence and youth, while an oil refinery is nearby, creating a poisonous haze. Label by Clarissa Cantacuzene