Pictured: Threat by Alexis Thompson, Roxboro, North Carolina. Photo courtesy of Embracing Our Differences.

“At what age do Black men and women become a threat to society?” asks Alexis Thompson, a university student at North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University from Roxboro, North Carolina, and the winner of this year’s Peoples Choice Award at Embracing Our Differences 19 th annual outdoor juried art exhibit celebrating diversity. Thompson, who is studying graphic design, received a cash award of $1,000 for her work entitled, “Threat?” which depicts a young Black man holding an infant on his lap. The words “At What Age Do I Become a Threat?” loom behind him. Thompson says she was initially motivated to create the piece after Breonna Taylor was killed by police during the execution of a no-knock warrant in 2020. She says she wants to create art that helps give a voice to those who need it. “My goal is to make others feel included and that they have a legacy to leave behind. How can we make this a better world to live in?” Sarah Wertheimer, Executive Director of Embracing Our Differences, says that the People’s Choice award is determined by a survey that was available to the 371,256 visitors who attended this year’s exhibit, January 15 through April 10. She adds that “Threat?” received far more votes than all of the artwork in the exhibit.

Next year’s Bayfront Park exhibit runs January 18-March 13, 2023. In addition, for the first time, the exhibit will also be displayed at Butler Park in North Port, March 22-April 19, 2023; and at State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota, April 26-May 29, 2023.

Pictured: Threat by Alexis Thompson, Roxboro, North Carolina. Photo courtesy of Embracing Our Differences.

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