Carnegie Museum of Art is honored to share images of a selection of artworks that are on view on the Cathedral of Learning Lawn at the University of Pittsburgh as a part of the university’s Black Lives in Focus initiative. The eight artworks reproduced and on view in the museum’s Scaife hallway were selected by Sean Beauford, manager of community relationships.

Black Lives in Focus is presented with the University of Pittsburgh’s Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (OEDI), the Center for Creativity, and the Department of Theatre Arts and the University Art Gallery of the University of Pittsburgh’s Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences.

Black Lives in Focus highlights twenty artworks, ten written responses, and a video that explore the richness and complexity of the Black experience in America. From celebrations of Black love and beauty to reflections on systemic biases and tributes to lives lost, these works offer diverse responses to the exhibition’s guiding question, “What do we learn when Black life is in focus?” This exhibition does not presume to represent the entirety of the Black experience but aims to highlight some of the voices in the community. The artists and writers represented were selected from the Pittsburgh and Southwestern Pennsylvania communities. The hope is that viewers, too, will reflect on how to better celebrate and amplify Black lives.

Guests are encouraged to visit the campus to view the entire exhibition, which is free and open to the public through September 23.