Austin Public Library hosting ‘TESTIFY’ exhibit through December

Published 5:43 pm Friday, November 3, 2023

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Austin Public Library will present the “Testify: Americana Slavery Today” photo gallery exhibit from Nov. 6 to Dec. 8. This event is free and open to the public.

The exhibit is presented by former Minnesota Supreme Court Justice and NFL Hall of Famer Justice Alan Page and his family.

This impactful exhibit of the Diane and Alan Page Collection of African-American art and artifacts was originally presented at the Hennepin County Library in 2018. Following the overwhelmingly positive response from the public, the exhibit has returned in 2023 with a renewed call to action and a wider reach.

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It is now accessible to the public in southeast Minnesota as a large-format, high resolution photo gallery. The family hopes the exhibit will help bridge divides, deepen dialogue and encourage action on justice.

“The objects in the exhibit … juxtapose artifacts from our often-painful shared history with inspiring imagery and works of art that help us rise above it,” the late Diane Sims Page said of the collection she started.

She hoped that “by coming to grips with our past, we can come together in the future.”

The Pages produced the traveling exhibit in collaboration with local artist and designer Kurt Mueller and with the support of SELCO, Great River Regional Library, the Friends of the Hennepin County Library, and The McKnight Foundation. For more information on Library Legacy funding, and a complete schedule of Legacy-funded events in the region, visit https://legacy.selco.info/.