 ublic art sends a message about the values and priorities of a community: The City of Yonkers played an intriguing and, until now, unarticulated role in the history of freedom in America. This information regarding the enslaved Africans in New York is of national significance, and deserving of further attention. Thus, the City of Yonkers, City-council woman Patricia McDow, the County of Westchester, ArtsWestchester, historians, scholars, community-based organizations, community members, and local artist Vinnie Bagwell are collaborating to make an unprecedented acknowledgement of the rich legacy left to the beneficiaries of enslaved Africans in our country.
The inaugural exhibition of the five 1/3-scale maquettes, site-plan illustrations and history of slavery in Westchester County has been made possible in part by City of Yonkers and Cond Ed. Thus, a call is being issued, challenging each of you make a contribution and encourage your respective churches, fraternities, sororities, or other civic organizations to become a link in the chain of community outreach: Share the web site and advocate for fund raising to support this important endeavor. The creation of this urban-heritage public-art project is estimated as upward of $1.5 million. Five 1/3-scale maquettes and a site plan are being developed with the aid of a grant from Entergy and numerous in-kind services. Additional funding is required to complete the casting(s), and the full support of the community-at-large: county wide, statewide, and nationwide will be required to complete Phase II: the enlargements and installation.
ArtsWestchester–the largest, private, not-for-profit arts council in New York State–is the primary fiscal sponsor and advisor for the Enslaved Africans' Rain Garden project. The City of Yonkers Department of Planning and Development is also a fiscal sponsor. The Yonkers African-American Heritage Committee was the initial fiscal sponsor for Phase I: the creation of the maquettes. Last summer, Ms. Bagwell could often be found sculpting, with an audience, on the roof-top garden at 66main, where Metro Partners LLC, a local developer, provided studio space for the artist to work as an in-kind service. Westchester Stamps provided in-kind service in the making of the maquettes, Harold A. Esannason/Graphics designed publications as an in-kind service and pilla creative marketing designed the web property and is assisting with internet marketing.
The Enslaved Africans' Rain Garden will serve as a forum to engage the community-at-large and preserve the legacy of enslaved Africans in the State of New York and the United States. It is hoped that visitors of this special place will be able to leave with the ability to appreciate and affirm the strength and beauty of ethnic and cultural pluralism, and now–more than ever–feel a sense of responsibility for the future of liberty and freedom for people of all colors. Help bring the vision to life. |
