On Tuesday, May 25th from 6pm - 9pm Indigo Arts Alliance, Maine Inside Out and a variety of community artists will host A Day of Remembrance at 754 Congress Street. We invite ALL of our community to gather in the spirit of collective liberation on this anniversary of George Floyd’s murder.

Centered around conversations, community healing, and action, this event will hold space to celebrate and mourn the lives that have been lost due to the violence of systemic racism and white supremacy. The convening will feature performances by local artists, a revival of Maine Inside Out’s 2009 play The Weeping City, a post show dialogue and action steps around closing the Long Creek Youth Development Center facilitated by Maine Youth Justice, and a projection by Indigo Arts Alliance’s current Artist-in-Resident Dianne Smith.

The Weeping City is an original Maine Inside Out (MIO) play created in 2009 following a fatal police shooting in Portland, Maine. Portland youth made a direct call to Maine Inside Out to use theater to initiate community dialogue about police violence. Twelve years later, MIO artists chose to bring The Weeping City back to life to remember and honor George Floyd and call our community to action to end state sanctioned violence and systemic racism. This 2021 version has been adapted and revised by play originator, Nancy Valmond-Bell, the MIO Models for Community Change team and the MIO Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) affinity group.

After sunset, Indigo Arts Alliance’s current Artist-in-Resident Dianne Smith, will activate the 754 Congress Street’s Counting From Thirteen installation with her projection, “Black Is Beautiful.” Set to the sound of Smith’s narration of Mary McLeod Bethune’s letter to Theodore Roosevelt, the work is a visual conversation around the existence and visibility of blackness in Portland from a Black lens. Through sourced diasporic imagery and Smith’s own photography, this multi-media art projection will explore the full expansive resonance that “Black Lives Matter” has on a daily basis.

This event is free and open to the public. We ask that all in attendance wear masks and adhere to the State of Maine’s Social Distancing Guidelines.