The City of Alexandria’s Office of the Arts has named Olalekan Jeyifous as the next artist to create a public art installation at Waterfront Park.
Waterfront Park has become a key location for public art in Alexandria with the current interactive installation Mirror Mirror, created by SOFTlab and artist Michael Szivos.
Jeyifous will create the second work for the park as part of Site See: New Views in Old Town. Selected by a task force and approved by the Alexandria Commission for the Arts, he’s been commissioned to create a new and original site-specific work inspired by Alexandria.
“Through the Site See series, we’re bringing engaging contemporary art to Alexandria’s burgeoning waterfront,” said Diane Ruggiero, director of the Alexandria Office of the Arts and deputy director for the Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities. “The public reception to Mirror Mirror has been so positive and we’re thankful to Michael and SOFTlab for helping build a strong foundation. We can’t wait to bring Olalekan to Alexandria for this next chapter.”
Based in Brooklyn, Jeyifous has spent more than a decade creating large-scale artwork for public spaces. He was recently commissioned, along with Amanda Williams, to create the forthcoming monument for Shirley Chisholm in Brooklyn. He previously created public art at the 2017 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California, Cleveland’s Public Square, and Starbucks’ flagship store in Chicago.
As the first part of the process, Jeyifous will visit Alexandria and meet residents, gathering inspiration for a design to come in Fall 2019.
The public is invited to meet the artist and learn about his creative process on Wednesday, May 22, from 7 – 9 p.m. The reception will be in the Crow’s Nest at Blackwall Hitch on 5 Cameron Street in Alexandria. Admission is free, but RSVPs are requested.
The Office of the Arts seeks to amplify Alexandria’s reputation as an arts destination with world-class artwork that captures that public’s imagination. The Site See public art series is an annual rotation of temporary installations that showcase Alexandria’s public art program through innovative, exciting, high-quality contemporary art at the key riverfront location. The aim is to bring work that is unlike anything that can be experienced in the region.
Olalekan Jeyifous’s received a bachelor’s of architecture from Cornell University. His work has been exhibited at the Studio Museum in Harlem, the MoMA, the Vitra Design Museum and the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain. He received grants and fellowships from the New York Foundation of the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts and the Brooklyn Arts Council. He’s completed artist residencies with the Headlands Center for the Arts, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, and the Drawing Center’s Open Sessions program, and was a Wilder Green Fellow at the MacDowell Colony. Learn more at vigilism.com.
Waterfront Park is a public plaza at the foot of King Street, historic Old Town’s main commercial street. The plaza is adjacent to the Torpedo Factory Art Center and the existing Waterfront Park, on the site of the former Old Dominion Boat Club’s building and parking lot. The park serves as the keystone to the revitalization of the Potomac River waterfront in Alexandria. It features an open plaza, a waterfront promenade, shade structures and modular space that can adapt to different uses throughout the year.
