project overview

Memphis Upstanders | Facing history and ourselves

Memphis Artists Cedar Nordbye and Nelson Gutierrez created this mural to honor community-nominated Upstanders, extraordinary Memphians who embraced the challenge to speak out, stand up for others, and make decisions that have helped to create a more inclusive, just, and compassionate Memphis. Cedar and Nelson photographed local Memphians and compiled their portraits into a photographic mosaic, depicting the fourteen Upstanders as members of a community, as agents of change in a vast network of engaged citizens. Located across the street from the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, the Upstanders Mural is seen by hundreds of thousands of visitors to the museum and South Main District every year. The mural expands a conversation on courage, community, and transformative action sparked by the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King and other civil rights movement change-makers. Mural commissioned by Facing History and Ourselves with funding from the Downtown Memphis Commission.

 The Memphis Upstanders mural was recognized by the Public Art Network Year in Review, as one of the best public art projects in USA in 2017.

About the Artists

Nelson Gutierrez

Nelson Gutierrez is an artist exploring the psychological and social implications of conflict. Most of his work is composed of two and three-dimensional pieces, conceptual objects and installations that reflect current sociopolitical issues. Different materials such as charcoal, ink, wood, metal, blood, wax, water, glass, light and photographs are juxtaposed in a way that provide symbolic relevance to the topic being explored. Different mediums are used to express feelings of collective longing, fear, grief and hope. In doing so, his work also speaks to our shared humanity in a way that is relatable to all.  

Cedar Lorca Nordbye

Cedar Lorca Nordbye is an Associate Professor in the Department of Art at the University of Memphis where he has taught since 2003.  His work has been exhibited in California, Atlanta, Chicago, Quebec, Skopje, Alabama, Kentucky and North Carolina in a variety of gallery, museum and alternative spaces.  Norbye has carried out social-practice/performance artworks in Las Vegas, Paris, Greensboro, Seattle, Nashville and New York City, where he has been banned from the Empire State Building since 2003.