CHESTERTOWN — Washington College’s Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience will host a bus tour and series of dialogues with experts of national and regional prominence as part of Art + Community + History: Creating a Landmark Together — a Maryland State Arts Council-funded process aimed at furthering robust public engagement in the planning for a major artwork on the Custom House lawn along the Chester River in Chestertown.
“The forthcoming artwork will celebrate and honor the full arc of four centuries of African American history in the Chesapeake Bay region, rather than simply commemorate or atone. Interested parties from across the region are encouraged to participate in this community-driven planning for the art proposal and eventual installation,” a news release states.
At various events starting in November, Jaelon T. Moaney, the Starr Center’s deputy director, will lead conversations with a wide array of experts in cultural preservation, contemporary public art and collective memory.
“The notion of reimagining is both an invitation and a challenge, one with a singular prerequisite: authenticity,” Moaney said in the news release. “While the gravity surrounding these forthcoming opportunities to unpack longstanding and evolving narratives cannot be understated, I’m most excited by how this process has already realized a justice-bearing capacity to depolarize inquiry, expand possibility and activate genuine acknowledgement of multiple truths,” he added.
The Art + Community + History process began in August with the first of two regional bus tours engaging Delmarva Peninsula community stakeholders “whose insights and efforts steering aligned journeys proved invaluable resources to participants,” according to the news release.
The second all-day bus tour to Philadelphia is set for Saturday, Nov. 23. The tour is open to the public, but space is limited so registration is required. See https://www.washcoll.edu/Calendar/index.php#event-details/2e24461e-9bcf-4cff-a21c-182f6f721e5c
Three public talks have been planned with the goal of broadening intergenerational dialogue and empowering participants through organic reimagining. Each is free and open to the public. They are listed below.
• Monday, Nov. 4: Reimagining How and Why We Remember
An empowering in-person dialogue exploring the role of public art in cultural stewardship on the Eastern Shore, in Maryland and across America with Brent Leggs, executive director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund and senior vice president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The event will begin with a reception at 5:30 p.m. in the lobby of the Gibson Center for the Arts at Washington College with the presentation starting at 6:30 p.m. in Decker Theater.
• Wednesday, Dec. 4: Reimagining How and Why We Reckon
This virtual event aims to be a distinctive dialogue exploring Chesapeake-based institutions of higher education reckoning with legacies of systemic racism and slavery through recent artworks which center community healing.
The event will be moderated by Maryland Park Service Director Angela Crenshaw, a 2004 Washington College graduate, in conversation with St. Mary’s College of Maryland President Tuajuanda Jordan, University of Virginia School of Architecture’s Andrea Roberts and The College of William & Mary Lemon Project Public Historian for Research & Programs Jajuan Johnson.
The virtual discussion will begin at 5:30 p.m. A log-in link will be shared ahead of the event.
• Monday, Feb. 3: Reimagining How and Why We Relate
A dialogue exploring collective memory and controversy forged through public monuments, public memorials and public art in American culture with Erika Doss, professor of art history and the Edith O’Donnell Distinguished Chair in the Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History at the University of Texas at Dallas.
This event will be in-person and is scheduled to take place at 6 p.m. Location and registration details are forthcoming.
NOTE: To receive event invitations, information and updates for these and all Starr Center events and programs, subscribe to the newsletter, https://washcoll.us7.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=a49f5b73f3ba1dfd783cc35a8&id=d5f27eaa78.
