MUNCIE, Ind. — Braving the cold weather and approaching winter storm; members of the Minnetrista Museum and Gardens attended an early preview of the latest exhibit on Jan. 23. Guests gathered in the downstairs event hall which had a sea of tables and buffet food. As everyone took their seats, Dr. John Anderson, the keynote speaker for the night, addressed everyone.
“That is the potential of being courageous and taking an honest look at the story of Emmett and Mamie Till-Mobley,” Anderson said.
It started out as an exhibit by the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, and would later become a traveling exhibit that tells Emmett Till’s story across the country. The exhibit was last housed in Cincinnati before it found its way to Muncie. Sebastián Encina, an employee at Minnitrista who worked on the exhibit, said before he even started working at the museum, they were looking to bring the exhibit to Muncie.
“When I started here, just about two years ago, this was already on our radar to host this exhibition,” Encina said.“It was only a matter of making sure it fit into our calendar. So, this has been three years in the making for us, and we finally get to host it here.
Each piece of the exhibit was curated carefully. Showing the early stages of Till’s childhood, then focusing mainly on the events of his death, before finally ending with how his death ignited a movement.
“There are components that need to come in and we just need to put it together. However, it came with a lot of emotions as well. As this is a story we are all very familiar with,” Encinca said.
As emotionally heavy the exhibit can be, staff at Minnitrista and Dr. Anderson both agree the exhibit is more about hope.
“While it can be easy to see an exhibition like this and feel very downtrodden, feel very heavy, the point of the exhibition is to inspire hope,” Encina said.
“I know that individuals who come and visit the exhibit will have a lot of great things to think about,” Anderson said. “Things that will contribute to the edification of their humanity, critical thinking and reflection. And that's what arts and culture is supposed to do; it’s supposed to expand our consciousness and get us more in touch with our humanity.”
The exhibit's official opening was on Saturday, Jan. 24. Encina and others who worked towards the opening hope that people who come to the exhibition walk away learning something. He said they wanted to display the exhibition that would make the community proud.
“At the end of the day, this museum doesn’t belong to me; it doesn’t belong to the staff. It’s a museum of the community, and the stories we are trying to tell are community stories. These are stories that we want our community to be proud of,” Encina said.
Contact Aiden Murray with comments at aiden.murray@bsu.edu.
