A new exhibition has opened at the City of Augusta Gallery, located on the first floor of the Municipal Building at 535 Telfair Street. “Reckoning with Our Past: The 1970 Augusta Riot” is open to the public now through June 30, 2021. This fascinating exhibit includes historical documents, oral history quotes, and artwork by local artists created in response to the memory of the May 1970 Augusta Riot. Original artworks are by Devin Lovett, Warren Richard, Wesley Stewart, and Matthew Thomas.

Join the Greater Augusta Arts Council and City officials at a special Meet and Greet with the Artists, rededication of the State Marker that commemoration the 1970 Augusta Riot. The event will be held in front of the main doors to the Municipal Building at 11:00am on Tuesday, May 11, 2021.

The story of the May 1970 Augusta Riot is not yet part of our local, state or national school curricula, and the dominant white narrative has been that it was a random moment of communal black insanity that came out of nowhere and was miraculously calmed by a speech by James Brown and the presence of the National Guard. The truth is far more interesting, heartbreaking, shameful, and important. Learn more at www.1970AugustaRiot.com.