A new exhibition at Blanc Gallery in Bronzeville, “From Memory to Movement: Emmett at 85,” imagines Emmett Till surviving to 85 while artists confront the legacy of racism—and the present-day push to erase parts of Black history.
On a Saturday in Bronzeville, the gallery lights fell across a world that never existed—one in which Emmett Till turned 15, married his high school sweetheart, and grew old in Chicago, holding on to joy even as injustice kept closing in.
The dream belongs to Raymond A. Thomas. the artist and curator behind “From Memory to Movement: Emmett Till at 85. ” which opened Friday at Blanc Gallery and runs through July 25. the date Till would have turned 85. The show features “We Love You Paw Paw. ” Thomas’ mixed media collage. a work that depicts Till celebrating his 15th birthday and caring for his mother. Mamie Till-Mobley. with three children and grandchildren. It’s a refusal to let the story end at the river.
Thomas said joy isn’t an escape from history—it’s what makes survival possible. “Our radical joy is a superpower that has kept us from our enslavement to now,” he said.
In the weeks before the exhibit opened, the figures at the center of Till’s life were never far from view: the name Mamie Till-Mobley, the portrait of a Black boy cut down in 1955, and the insistence from the artists that this isn’t simply memorial work—it’s conversation work.
The exhibit is presented in partnership with the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley Institute nonprofit. where Thomas serves as creative director. It includes paintings, photographs, sculptures and mixed media works by a dozen Chicago artists. Together. the pieces humanize Till and other Black children. offer commentary on race in America. and are meant to “spark conversations about present and future struggles for justice.”.
For Thomas, the urgency is tied to what’s happening now. The show is also a commentary on the present-day banning of cultural history books and classes, and the erosion of diversity, equity and inclusion.
“In these times. with the erasure of our history and Black culture at hand. reaffirming our humanity to the world is vital. ” Thomas said. “Artists’ voices are what’s needed to carry that further into the people’s consciousness. That’s why this show is not just about creating works for people to acquire. but it’s about the call of action to where we need to be.”.
Till’s life, cut short by racism
Till was a Chicago native who was killed Aug. 28, 1955, amid backlash to racial integration efforts. The year before, the U.S. Supreme Court had outlawed racial segregation in public schools with its Brown v. Board of Education ruling.
While visiting family in Mississippi, Till reportedly whistled at a white woman working at a grocery store. In response, he was kidnapped, beaten, shot and dumped in the Tallahatchie River. Till-Mobley ordered an open-casket funeral in Chicago for her son, and his death galvanized civil rights activists.
Christopher Benson, a journalism professor at Northwestern University who has written books on Till’s legacy, said the exhibit’s purpose is inseparable from what Till’s mother made impossible to ignore.
“Emmett Till, through his mother, was able to show us the horrific face of race hatred on what had been the beautiful face of this inspiring young kid,” Benson said. Benson also serves on the board of the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley Institute.
The art show is part of the organization’s summer program series, “Emmett Till: The Pursuit of Happiness and American Reckoning,” which coincides with America’s 250th anniversary. The initiative also includes the return of a summer academy on Till.
Benson pointed to the curiosity—and the appetite for honesty—he sees in young people.
“They have argued that these conversations about our difficult struggle are depressing to kids, and they feel guilty and responsible, and that’s not the case,” Benson said. “What we saw was a hunger for these conversations.”
How artists bring Till forward
Within the gallery, the works speak in different languages—acrylic, clay, mixed media—but the images are united by one aim: to insist that Till was more than a photograph of harm.
Gerard Griffin’s acrylic painting, “Every Time We Rise,” shows Till dripping wet, as if he emerged from the river. Under the same title, Griffin’s clay sculpture depicts Till sitting atop an American flag and the cotton gin fan that was tied around his neck to weigh his body down in the water.
“All of these elements are meant to suppress and diminish not only this kid but who we are as people,” Griffin said. “He’s risen above these attempts to destroy his memory and, in turn, destroy our memory and our identity.”
Paul Branton’s acrylic painting includes the cotton gin fan as well—but in Branton’s hands. it becomes playground equipment. a transformation meant to capture survival rather than spectacle. Branton. a Beverly artist. said. “I turned it into an object that children can play on that became harmless. something that became useful rather than destructive.”.
Candace Hunter’s mixed media piece. “Emmett’s Last Night/Eternal Night. ” centers on the reflection of the Tallahatchie River in Till’s funeral suit. Hunter said several artists in the show felt connected to Till’s story not only as Black people. but as Chicagoans with southern roots. Hunter grew up near Woodlawn’s McCosh Elementary School, which Till attended.
“There was not a child in our neighborhood who did not feel the effect of this boy’s death for decades,” Hunter said.
Even the most abstract work carries a warning. John Caleb Pendleton’s “Tallahatchie Chiffarobe” is described as a closet-like structure built with poplar. lotus pods. brunia and found objects. Pendleton, of Bridgeport, said, “[Till] is the skeleton in America’s closet.” He also owns Planks & Pistils floral studio.
Pendleton called the exhibit “hopeful,” but said he wants visitors to remember the harm done to Till and to youth today.
“We really need to do our best to protect Black boys,” Pendleton said. “I hope people can leave the show and start to see Black boys differently. They deserve softness and tenderness and play and joy, too.”
Emmett Till Mamie Till-Mobley Chicago Blanc Gallery Raymond A. Thomas From Memory to Movement: Emmett Till at 85 Black history civil rights cultural book bans diversity equity inclusion