Courtesy SiteSeeALX.com
Site See's March 2023 installation.
The next public art installation at Waterfront Park, coming this spring, will reflect Alexandria's history as a shipping port.
"Two Boxes of Oranges and Admonia Jackson" by Nina Cooke John, an artist who was born in Jamaica and is now based in New York City. The artist is the founder of Studio Cooke John Architecture and Design and has been featured in national publications and won numerous awards. She was recently selected to design the new Harriet Tubman Monument in Newark, New Jersey.
The art that will be installed at Waterfront Park in March is an abstract impression of the hull of a ship. "Visitors can stand within the space and imagine a time in Alexandria’s history when the ships carried not only cargo like tobacco, molasses, rum and limes, but also enslaved people who were traded as part of the transatlantic and domestic slave trades," according to the piece's explanation.
"Cooke John was inspired by the remains of 18th century ships found at the Hotel Indigo site and the Robinson Terminal South site in 2015 and 2018. She was intrigued with the form and texture of the wrecks themselves, as well as the ways archeological excavations and sites reveal layers of history."
Site See: New Views in Old Town is the annual series of temporary public art at Waterfront Park in Old Town Alexandria. The series is is commissioned by Alexandria’s Public Art Program, a part of the City of Alexandria’s Office of the Arts.
Past installations include the original Mirror, Mirror in 2019 and last year's I Love You neon sign.
Learn more at siteseealx.com.
