The Buffalo AKG Art Museum opened a new exhibit called Before and After Again, dedicated to the ten lives that were slayed and lost in the Tops Friendly Markets on Jefferson Avenue on May 14, 2022. Curated by poet Jillian Hanesworth, writer Tiffany Gaines, and painter Julia Bottoms, this exhibition not only honors the lives that were lost, but it humanizes them as these three creatives spent approximately 16 months spending time with the families impacted.

“These are real people,” said Hanesworth. “The heart and intention behind this is to make sure that people understand that we are going to continue to honor our community members because they are people, they are not just ten victims.”

The creatives held a safe space for residents of the East Side community of Buffalo as they shared their experiences, pain, memories of their loved ones to sew together a story of tragedy of grief, anger, and loss through expression. By doing so, Hanesworth, Bottoms, and Gaines have exposed the darkness of systemic racism and violence, redlining, and the lack of resources that shadows the East Side. In bringing these issues to the surface, it has provided an opportunity to shed light and give love, power and hope back to a community where it was once taken.

Between the paintings, the prose and the poetry, the exhibition offers a space of healing through trauma while offering a chance to have dialogue about the African American experience.

On the opening night of the exhibition, the Buffalo AKG hosted a Community Conversation event with members of the community who lost family. Within the conversation, their experiences of loss, trauma, and later activism were shared with the audience. Mark Talley, Ebony White, and Garnell Whitfield each discussed the authenticity of sharing and connecting with the creatives, feeling “seen” and “whole” after seeing the exhibit, and how important activism is outside of the art museum.

Before and After Again is free to the public and on view at Buffalo AKG’s M&T Bank Gallery from March 8 to Sept. 30.