Speed Art Museum asks artists to dig into Kentucky history

Five artists—Spencer Finch, Nari Ward, Wangechi Mutu, Brian Knep and Matthew Moore—are creating site-specific commissions for the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, ahead of its grand reopening in March 2016. Finch plans to create a hanging sculpture inspired by the US president Abraham Lincoln, who was born in Hodgenville, Kentucky. The light emanating from Finch’s work will be calibrated to emulate the daylight in Hodgenville on the morning of 12 February, Lincoln’s birthday. Ward says he will examine “the complex history and sentiment surrounding the Louisville Confederate Monument”, which is across the street from the Speed. With its $50m overhaul, the museum aims to become “a laboratory for the creation of new work and a platform for fresh perspectives on our region”, says Miranda Lash, the Speed’s curator of contemporary art.