About Through Sleet’s Eyes Festival

The Civil Rights movement is arguably one of the most defining and influential social progressions throughout United States history.  Among the forms of media utilized to capture and communicate this era, photography remains the most widely influential and memorable art form used to rally support for the racially oppressive and segregated United States.  Moneta Sleet, Jr. was a photographer for Ebony magazine, capturing many of the most iconic moments during this era.  His photo taken at the funeral of Martin Luther King Jr. tenderly commemorates the grief of Coretta Scott King and her daughter, Bernice King, and it garnered the Pulitzer Prize for journalism, honoring him as the first African American recipient.   

Sleet was born and raised in Owensboro, Kentucky and attended Western High School, the formerly segregated secondary school for Blacks.  However, his name is unfamiliar to most Owensboro residents. The 2021 Leadership Owensboro class desired to give a gift to their community. Originally, the concept was to commission a bronze sculpture of Moneta Sleet, Jr. to be placed in a prominent public space. Pivoting to a portrait by K.O. Lewis, a local artist and educator, the portrait was unveiled in November 2021. The portrait is currently rotating through the community, accompanied by educational material explaining its significance. Having already been viewed by thousands of people of people in Daviess County, the portrait will go it its forever home which will be announced at the festival.

The portrait unveiling was a catalyst that compelled an array of interested local entities to come together to amplify Sleet’s story on a much larger scale. After a few meetings, Through Sleet’s Eyes Festival was created.

The photography of Moneta Sleet, Jr. extends far beyond simply taking photographs. As his friend and colleague Gordon Parks wrote, “Photographers come and go. The works of the good ones stay on and on, ripening with the years. The cameras of some tell us that all is well. While others shout that everything’s bad. Moneta, having lived through all the shadows of everydayness, embraced all conditions, mixed them generously with compassion, and presented them to our curious eyes. He spoke for those who died for worthy causes, those born yesterday, and those who will be born tomorrow.”