City Hall to be draped in 16-story art project ‘Freedom Constellations’
Jeremy M. Lazarus | 6/24/2021, 6 p.m.
Huge, dramatic banners soon will cover two sides of City Hall.
The banners will feature two Richmond teens in triumphant poses and include positive statements.
Set to be installed at the end of this month, the 16-story banners are the product of a partnership between the city and a cultural nonprofit called Performing Statistics led by multimedia artist Mark Strandquist.
He dreamed up the idea for the unique work he dubbed “Freedom Constellations.”
Mayor Levar M. Stoney embraced it and secured the funding to make it reality. He said the finished product would be “a beacon shining brightly from City Hall” in support of a future “where every young person feels unlimited potential, unimpeded by the burdens of systematic racism and poverty.”
The banners will feature Richmond Public Schools students Ta’Dreama McBride and Clyde Walker, Mr. Strandquist said.
The banner featuring a portrait of Ta’Dreama in a dance pose will rise on the Marshall Street side of City Hall and include the words in red, “We DREAM of a WORLD where All youth are FREE.”
The banner of Clyde will hang on the 9th Street side of City Hall. He will be featured with his arm raised and the words in red: “We can LOVE ourselves. We can share our Future. We are FREE.”
The students are serving as spokespersons for city teens involved with a nonprofit called RISE for Youth.
After the installation is complete, Mr. Strandquist said that visitors will be able to stand at 9th and Marshall streets and aim smartphones at the portraits to gain access to the full presentation. That will include augmented reality animation and an audio of youths expressing their ideas for invest- ments that they say will keep the community safe, healthy and free, he said.
The audio also will include young people reciting a co-written poem that includes the words, “In a world without youth prisons. I walk down the streets and... I hear happiness in the community, and I feel safe...”
Mr. Strandquist said, “Covering the sides of City Hall with interactive portraits of youth fighting to make Richmond a better place is exactly the kind of monumental public art that Richmond needs in this moment.”
He said the teens being featured represent “a multitude of powerful and visionary youth in the city.”
To build a better future, he said, “we have to imagine it, illustrate it and design it, and youth need to be part of that process. These young leaders have given us a huge gift; they’ve shared a beautiful blueprint for a Richmond where all youths have support.
“I hope,” he continued, “we all use this as an opportunity to listen, learn and find more ways to involve youth in efforts to make the world and future a better place.”
Ta’Dreama said she hopes the project inspires people “to make a change in the community and the world.”
Six city departments joined with Ven- ture Richmond and Richmond Region Tourism to cover the cost of the project, officials said.