New Mural by Acclaimed Artist Dominic Chambers Graces Searls Hall
04/01/2025
The Kranzberg Arts Foundation Announces New Mural by Acclaimed Artist Dominic Chambers, Exploring the Underground Railroad in St. Louis
ST. LOUIS — The Kranzberg Arts Foundation (KAF), in collaboration with Saint Louis University and the St. Louis Literary Award program, is proud to announce a new mural by acclaimed artist Dominic Chambers. Set to be completed in early April 2025 on the Walls Off Washington at Saint Louis University’s Searls Hall, this mural explores the legacy of the Underground Railroad and highlights its significance in Missouri and the St. Louis region.
This initiative is closely tied to the 2025 St. Louis Literary Award, which will honor Pulitzer Prize-winning author Colson Whitehead. Whitehead’s novel, The Underground Railroad, inspires the mural, creating a robust dialogue between literature, history and public art. The collaboration underscores a commitment to aligning the arts, education and historical reflection, fostering meaningful engagement with the local community.
Acclaimed artist Dominic Chambers outside SLU's Searls Hall. Photo by Bobby Best, courtesy of Kranzberg Arts Foundation.
The project aims to illuminate St. Louis’ historical connections to the Underground Railroad and offer a space for collective reflection and learning. Through a dynamic partnership with Saint Louis University, educators, students and the public will have opportunities to engage with the mural and related programming, including discussions on art, history and literature.
Chambers will participate in a public panel discussion on the intersection of art,
history and literature on Monday, April 7 at 12 p.m. at SLU's Pius XII Memorial Library
2nd-floor gallery. Hosted by Saint Louis University’s Visual and Performing Arts Department,
Art History program, St. Louis Literary Award Programs, and the Kranzberg Arts Foundation,
Chambers will discuss his mural with historian Dorris Keeven-Franke, an expert on
Missouri’s Underground Railroad history and Executive Director of the Missouri Germans
Consortium. Her work preserves the stories of enslaved people seeking freedom and
the abolitionists who aided them.
The panel will be held at 12 p.m. Monday, April 7, in SLU's Pius XII Memorial Library,
in the 2nd-floor gallery. A reception will follow.
Born in St. Louis and residing and working in New Haven, Conn., Chambers creates vibrant paintings that simultaneously engage art historical models, such as color-field painting and gestural abstraction, and contemporary concerns around race, identity, and the necessity for leisure and reflection. A writer himself, Chambers is often inspired by literature and has cited Magical Realism, alongside writings by W.E.B. Du Bois, Ralph Ellison, and James Baldwin, as significantly influential to his practice. Chambers received his B.F.A from Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, Milwaukee, WI in 2016, and his M.F.A. from Yale University School of Art in 2019. In 2023, he was the subject of a solo exhibition at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis.
"We are honored and overjoyed to welcome Dominic Chambers home to St. Louis for this significant public art project," said Gina Grafos, Chief Curator and Director of Visual & Literary Art at Kranzberg Arts Foundation. "Dominic’s work eloquently intertwines history, memory, and storytelling to create a dialogue that resonates deeply with our region. His new mural, 'For You: All the Color in the World,' draws on multifarious art historical influences and the transformative concept of the veil—a metaphor that invites us to reimagine the inner landscape of our shared experiences. His return is not only a celebration of his extraordinary artistic practice but also a powerful tribute to the vibrant narratives that shape our past and inspire our future. We could not imagine a more fitting artist to bring this vision to life."
For You: All the Color in the World. Photo by Bobby Best, courtesy of Kranzberg Arts Foundation.
The Walls Off Washington mural initiative, a project of the Kranzberg Arts Foundation, continues to serve as a platform for large-scale, thought-provoking works that reflect St. Louis's cultural and historical fabric. Additional details on programming and events related to the mural will be announced in the coming months.
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