Design Concept

Memorial Design

• Site Plan - Updated 05/08/12
• Site Context
• Existing Urban Conditions
• Existing Subterranean Conditions
• Memorial Interpretive Program
• Place of Remembrance - 1
• Place of Remembrance - 2
• Place of Remembrance - 3

Site Maps

• City-Scale Context 
• Neighborhood-Scale Context
• Built and Natural Conditions 
• Historic and Archaeological Resources 
• Topography 

Art Plan Premise

An artist will be commissioned to create a bronze sculpture that will become a part of the Contrabands and Freedmen’s Cemetery Memorial to be located at 1001 South Washington Street, just north of I-95 ("the Beltway"). The sculpture shall be placed on a portion of a 50’ x 30’ stone-paved plaza that shall form a terrace at the intersection of the main path and will be aligned with the archway marking the entrance to the Memorial. The main entry path, which is 130’ in length, shall lead directly from the entrance to the sculpture. Located approximately 95 feet from the entrance, the sculpture is expected to be visible from South Washington Street in order to be experienced actively and passively by individuals visiting the Memorial, neighborhood residents, and those driving past the Memorial. The sculpture should relate visually to both the entrance at South Washington Street and the wall of names to the north side of the sculpture.

The sculpture shall be attached to a stone-faced base provided by the City. This base shall be approximately 18” high, and approximately 6’3” wide, and 10’2” long (the smaller dimension being parallel to South Washington Street). The size of the base of the sculpture shall be restricted by the size of this stone base. The sculptor shall work with the Memorial designer to confirm the exact size of the sculpture, and shall be responsible for the installation and attachment of the sculpture in consultation with the Memorial designer.  The artist shall provide the weight and loading information to the Memorial designer to coordinate the design and construction of the sculpture foundtion. 

The artist will be consulted on any lighting design for the sculpture, but will not be required to provide design documentation of lighting.  The sculpture must be durable, low maintenance, and appropriate to the historic nature of the surrounding neighborhood and the sacred nature of the cemetery. Applicants should consider pedestrian traffic, light (both natural and designed), outdoor weather conditions, and the architectural design of the cemetery when designing the proposal. Water features are not permitted.

The sculpture shall be integrated with other elements of the Memorial, which include: a wall with the names, death date, and age of individuals known buried in the cemetery; a seat wall; shade trees; interpretive content; and 511 stone markers that will evoke the feeling of a traditional cemetery by marking the grave sites identified through the archaeological excavations.  Interpretive elements need not be included with the sculpture design.

Project Goals
The artwork shall:

• Comprise a minimum of three (3) realistically representational figures that personify the men, women and children buried in the cemetery;
• Be placed in a unified location/position;
• Be larger than life size (the final size and proportions of the sculpture shall be worked out with the Memorial designer during the design phase) in order to present the piece in sufficient detail and presence
• Be complementary to the design of the Memorial
• Be visible and recognizable from the South Washington Street entrance and be placed within the location specified on the City's final site plan for the Memorial;
• Be historically authentic and representative of clothing and hairstyles of mid-19th century African Americans; and
• Honor and commemorate the history associated with the cemetery by conveying the hopes, conditions and realities of the freed peoples.