[Archived] Sheldon Scott: the Finest Amenities - A Site-Specific Performance and Exhibition in Old Town Alexandria

Part of Time & Place, a Public Art Exhibition series commissioned by the Alexandria Office of the Arts

For Immediate Release: April 11, 2017

• Walk and Performance: Sunday, April 23 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
  Potomac waterfront at King Street to Gadsby’s Tavern Museum, 134 N. Royal St.
  
• Exhibition: July 7, 2017 through September 4, 2017
  Torpedo Factory Art Center, 105 N. Union St.

• #TimeandPlaceALX

The City of Alexandria’s Office of the Arts partners with Washington-based artist Sheldon Scott for the Finest Amenities, an immersive performance and installation inspired by Gadsby’s Tavern Museum.

Scott uses the history of harvesting ice from the Potomac, and the storage and use of this ice at Gadsby’s, as his starting point. He layers in enslaved narratives and the history and ecology of the river to examine the relationships between race, class, environment, luxury and consumption.

Scott’s performance of the Finest Amenities takes place on Sunday, April 23. Scott will begin at the Potomac waterfront at King Street at 1 p.m. and will proceed east towards Gadsby’s Tavern Museum, located at 134 North Royal Street. Visitors will experience an immersive one-time performance in a reimagined Gadsby's Tavern.

In July and August, Scott continues the community dialogue surrounding the Finest Amenities with a micro-exhibition in the New Project Studio at the Torpedo Factory Art Center, located at 105 North Union Street. The space will feature photography, video, and ephemera from this body of work. Video will also be projected throughout Alexandria via the Mobile Art Lab.

This project is the inaugural work for the Time & Place series, which explores the intersection of contemporary art with Alexandria’s rich and multifaceted history. Using research-based practices and working in a variety of media, Scott—along with two Baltimore-based artists, Stewart Watson and Lauren Frances Adams—are creating thought-provoking temporary works that are inspired by the storied past of Gadsby’s Tavern.

Time & Place is an initiative of the Alexandria Office of the Arts’ public art program, in partnership with the Office of Historic Alexandria. The goal of this compelling project is to foster exploration and dialogue about our region’s history and its continued reverberations within our community today. Follow #TimeandPlaceALX to join the conversation online. For more information, visit alexandriava.gov/94687.

The City of Alexandria is committed to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. To request a reasonable accommodation or materials in an alternative format, contact Diane Ruggiero at 703.746.5590 (Virginia Relay 711) or diane.ruggiero@alexandriava.gov.