Billboards apparently sponsored by the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts have popped up in the Montgomery area, featuring President Donald Trump’s popular “Make America Great Again” slogan pasted over a picture of the infamous Bloody Sunday in Selma.
The photo appeared on at least one billboard observed by 1819 News, but other reports state identical billboards are scattered throughout the county; all featuring the name of the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) pasted at the bottom.
The boards feature a massive “Make America Great Again” over a famous picture of Alabama state troopers confronting the late civil rights leaders John Lewis and Hosea Williams during the March 7, 1965, Selma to Montgomery march. The march came weeks after a voting rights protest where a young black man was beaten to death by police. Over 600 people set off from Brown Chapel AME Church, eventually finding a wall of state troopers and sheriff's deputies.
Police advanced on Lewis and the marchers and began to beat them with Billy Clubs and barrage the crowd with tear gas. The conflict resulted in the eventual passing of the Voting Rights Act, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson that same year.
The billboard’s purpose is unclear since it does not appear to be a part of any MMFA campaign or initiative. The MMFA public relations and media spokesperson did not respond to a phone call and voicemail from 1819 News asking for clarification.
The MMFA is governed by a board with several familiar Montgomery names. It is chaired by Montgomery native and artist Bill Ford. Steve Russell, apparently the same owner of Russell Construction of Alabama, sits as the vice president.
The MMFA corporate partners are also well-known. Lamar Advertising, the company that owns one of the billboards, the accounting and advisory firm Carr, Riggs & Ingram, and the Poarch Band of Creek Indians are listed as sustaining guarantors, giving over $25,000 to the museum. Alabama Public Radio and the multi-state corporate law firm Balch & Bingham, LLP are listed as guarantors, giving between $10,000 and $24,999.
Other donors can be found below:
The MMFA also receives funds from the State of Alabama, the City of Montgomery and the Montgomery County Commission.
According to the Alabama state checkbook, the MMFA received over $112,000 in the 2024 fiscal year. The MMFA’s most recent financial report for the 2023 fiscal year shows that most of its $4.6 million in funding comes from the City and Montgomery County Commission, totaling roughly $3.2 million. The federal, state and local grants totaled $437,000.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
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