Floyd D. Tunson: Hearts and Minds

The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College is pleased to present a focused presentation of Floyd D. Tunson’s monumental mixed-media installation Hearts and Minds from his Endangered series in dialogue with a collaborative multi-media project by the same name.

Completed in 1995 and acquired by the Fine Arts Center in 2020, Tunson’s Hearts and Minds addresses the ongoing impact of gun violence on youth of color. In Colorado, Black men ages 18–24 are more than 12 times more likely than white men the same age to be killed in a gun homicide. The work asks us to consider the systems and structures that perpetuate these cycles of violence and tragic loss.

Endangered, the multi-disciplinary performance-based project presented alongside Hearts and Minds is a poetic and musical response to the artwork in Floyd D. Tunson’s Endangered series addressing the endangered status of Black men. Featuring the music of artist Tomás Doncker, the lyrics of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa, and the videography of William Murray, Endangered will run in video form in the galleries through the duration of the exhibition with live performances scheduled for June 16 and 17, 2022 at the Fine Arts Center.

As part of this presentation, the Fine Arts Center has plans to partner with young people from the Colorado Springs community, along with Colorado College students, to share their voices and creative work in response to the issues raised by works in the exhibition.

“This project demonstrates the ongoing impact Tunson, one of our region’s most celebrated artists and educators, continues to have on the cultural landscape in the Pikes Peak region and beyond. It has been a privilege to partner with Floyd, the individuals behind Endangered, and the many students, educators, and artists contributing to the project in their own creative responses. We look forward to welcoming our community in to experience this important project and to serve as a space for meaningful dialogue.” said Michael Christiano, director of visual arts and museum director.

The exhibition is curated by Michael Christiano and supported in part by funding from Colorado College’s Cultural Attractions Fund, the Holaday Interactive Art Fund, CALM Foundation, Walston Group Real Estate, Inc, and the Bee Vradenburg Foundation.