Virtual art gallery honoring George Floyd launched from Fort Bend Co.

Young artists from around the world are joining in on a project launched right in Fort Bend County.

"Enter to change the cycle of history."

Those are the welcome words for a new virtual art gallery, erected in honor of George Floyd. It features creations from 14 states and six countries. 

“We wanted to create a platform that would give young people an opportunity to share their views and their perspectives but also give them an opportunity to process the raw emotions of disbelief, of hurt, of harm- the real need of repair,” says founder of the gallery Karim Farishta.

The Fort Bend native recently graduated with a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard. He’s been quarantining back home and decided to partner with Afreen Ali and Giangtien Nguyen, co-founders of INVI, a minority-owned architecture visualization company. Together the team planned and put up the gallery in three days.

They call it #ArtforJustice, a place to connect in a time of COVID-19.
Submissions for the gallery have been pouring in from toddler to elderly artists.

A first-grader from Maryland has her design featured. She says she created her sign for a protest in her city which reads, “Black is great.” For her, it is just a start for social change. She's planning to organize her own demonstration with her family.

“I was happy to share my art with the whole world and show people it wasn’t OK to be racist,” says Jillian Regen.

Some selections were made virtually, others were digitized for the project.

The gallery allows closer looks at the artwork, including an illustrated piece from a Sugar Land student. 

“It means for me equal rights for everyone,” says 6th-grade artist Zara Sheikh. “I think we should change how we act and how we act to everyone because we should all be treated the same way no matter how we look.”

The virtual tour ends with a call to action for the time it took to kill George Floyd. “What will you do in the next 8 minutes and 46 seconds to make our world a better place for all?” a prompt reads.

“That’s really going to help us move the needle on issues around justice and issues around police brutality,” says Farishta.

The gallery is a living project, with plans to add more artwork and features and possibly take #ArtforJustice beyond the computer screen.

Visit https://invi.us/ARTFORJUSTICE/ to visit the virtual gallery.