Artist Shaun Leonardo Wants to Expand the Conversation on Police Brutality Through His Work

'In March, the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland canceled a show by artist Shaun Leonardo  featuring charcoal drawings depicting several high profile incidents of police brutality. At the time, the museum released a statement saying that, “we encountered troubling community response that suggested at this time we were not prepared to engage with the lived experiences of pain and trauma that the work evokes.” In early June, Leonardo, who identifies as Afro Latino, criticized the museum’s decision saying “institutional white fragility led to an act of censorship.” Leonardo has said that he spoke out in response to statements being put out by a number of museums in support of Black Lives Matter, which he found to be hypocritical. Leonardo joins The Takeaway to discuss his show’s cancellation and how art institutions can be held accountable moving forward.'