So I had a rough Juneteenth.....
As some of you know, (and Facebook reminds me) I launched a Kickstarter to fund the Auction Block memorial on June 19, 2019, with an eye to installing the work on Juneteenth 2020. Unfortunately that was not to be. The current moment makes me sad that I couldn’t realize the work-but I know that it was not for a lack of trying on my part. I’m still struggling with what went down and the way it unfolded-especially since so many of the people demanding an expanded dialog have done nothing to advance one. (For those of you who don’t know the background here, both Jenee Osterheldt and Murray Whyte have covered the work and I wrote my own op-Ed for the Globe.)
It seems that there remains a vocal group of Bostonians who are more interested in having memorials that make them feel good about themselves and are organized around their taste. That’s their right. I didn’t know how to make a memorial about chattel slavery in New England that made people feel good. I was never that kind of artist. And if a vocal group of Bostonians want to continue to talk shit about me, I guess that is their right, too. (People really think that the shit they say doesn’t get back to me, but it does. And my memory is long.)
It also doesn’t really matter since I don’t live there anymore.
Moving to NYC has given me reflective space about the Memorial and Boston. I am SO grateful to the people who supported the work-who came to my defense in large ways and small. I have friends in Boston-dear ones-and they made themselves present for me in ways too numerous to mention. They have been so instrumental in helping me heal from the attacks, the neglect, and the abandonment I experienced in all of this.
I want to say a real heartfelt thank you to Patti Seitz and Julian Phillips, my collaborators on this project. We continue to work together to realize this project in other environments. I want to say thank you to Joyce Linehan of the Chief of Policy for Mayor Walsh. She was a great partner, a good listener, and a really saw the connection between public policy and public memory. I want to thank Karin Goodfellow and the BostonAIR program for helping me forge a path to realize the work. I want to thank Suzanne Taylor from the Freedom Trail Foundation who was the best historical partner and information source I could have wished for.
I had a great advisory board supporting me through this process. They helped me navigate this situation with grace and clarity. If you run into any these people, please tell them thank you. You could even take a moment and send them an email. They really deserve praise for everything they did and continue to do.
Martin J. Walsh - Mayor of Boston/Joyce Linehan - Chief of Policy
Camilo Alvarez-Director, Samsøñ
Dr. Martin Blatt - Professor of the Practice in History and Director of Public History Program
Dr. Kendra Field - Associate Professor of History and Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy/African American Trail Project at Tufts University
L’Merchie Frazier - Director of Education at the Museum of African American History
Dr. Kerri Greenidge - Director of American Studies Program/African American Trail Project at Tufts University
Sean Hennessey - National Park Service (ret.)
Dr. Ted Landsmark - Director of the Kitty & Michael Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University
Jill Medvedow - Ellen Matilda Poss Director, ICA Boston
Dr. David Nelson - Former President, Massachusetts College of Art and Design
Dr. Lyssa Palu-ay - Dean of Justice, Equity and Transformation, Massachusetts College of Art and Design
Kenny Rivera - Design for Social Intervention
Lynn Smiledge - Chair of the Boston Landmarks Commission
Abby Wolf - Executive Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University
My work continues in the studio AND in the public realm. I’ve learned so much this year. I’m writing proposals and making connections. I haven’t given up, but I am moving on.