For Immediate Release: July 3, 2012

Public Invited to Meet the Artists and View Proposals for the Freedmen’s Cemetery Sculpture on July 7 at the Durant Arts Center (UPDATE - New Location)

Location Change for Artist Reception & Public Viewing

The Alexandria Commission for the Arts and the Office of the Arts are pleased to announce the artists selected to submit design proposals for the Contrabands and Freedmen’s Cemetery sculpture.  The public is invited to meet the artists and view the proposals at a reception on Saturday, July 7 from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Durant Arts Center, located at 1605 Cameron St. (new location). This move was required due to physical constraints of the maquettes and the proposed viewing locations.

The finalists are:

• Erik Blome, Crystal Lake, Illinois
• Mario Chiodo, Oakland, California
• Edward Dwight, Denver, Colorado

Beginning July 9, the proposals will be on display at the Durant Arts Center, located at 1605 Cameron St. (new location).  The public may record written comments at the display, or e-mail comments to aca@alexandriava.gov through August 6.

The three finalists emerged from a talented pool of applicants from 19 states and three countries who responded to a widely promoted “Call to Artists.”  The artists were selected by a panel of stakeholders including representatives of the Friends of Freedmen’s Cemetery, descendant family members, Old Town/Hunting Creek Civic Association, the Society for the Preservation of Black Heritage, Alexandria Historical Society, the Public Art Committee, and subject matter experts including an historian, design professional and sculptor.

Following the month-long display of the proposals, the Selection Panel will consider the public comments and make a recommendation to the Alexandria Commission for the Arts and City Council.  The winning artist will be announced in September.  The sculpture will be installed in the spring of 2013 at the Cemetery, located at 1001 S. Washington St.

The cost of the sculpture is funded in accordance with the terms of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge settlement agreement between the City, the Federal Highway Administration, and the Virginia Department of Transportation.

The sculpture will be a part of a larger Memorial to those who did not live long in freedom, the freed and escaped slaves and their children buried in the Cemetery.  The goal of the sculpture is to educate visitors to the Cemetery about the courageous struggles of the thousands of contrabands and freedmen who sought refuge in Alexandria during the Civil War.  The sculpture will be located inside the Cemetery, and will serve as a reminder to generations of the struggle for freedom and the people who fought for it.

For more information, contact Alisa Carrel, Director of the Office of the Arts, at 703.746.5590 or e-mail alisa.carrel@alexandriava.gov.