Queen City
Holding Collective Memory
“Sometimes, in fact, all that is left behind by loss is trace - and sometimes empty volumes can be easier to hold in the heart than presence itself.”
Queen City, a permanent public art installation in Arlington, Virginia, confronts the 1941 seizure of Black-owned land by the federal government for the construction of the Pentagon.
This immersive piece conceptually connects visitors to the historic Black neighborhood where 903 people thrived for 40 years.
Informed by research and conversations with living descendants, the work invites us to face our national history of the forced erasure of Black communities through eminent domain while daylighting the story and collective memory of a singular place.
The exterior is made of 5,000 reclaimed bricks - symbolizing the ones made by Queen City laborers that can be found across the National Mall, the Library of Congress, and the foundation of the White House.
The sculpture takes the form of a water tower, referencing the resilience of a self-sustaining community challenged by a lack of resources.
Stepping inside the sculpture, viewers look up to see 903 vessels — handmade by contemporary Black ceramicists in the shape and color of drops of water. These pieces acknowledge and honor the individuals displaced from Queen City while creating a network of artists and craftspeople that metaphorically pick up the spirit of this fractured community.
Viewers find a medallion inset in the tower’s floor depicting Arlington’s original Black enclaves.
Only three still exist as historically Black neighborhoods, although they are greatly gentrified.
The work invites viewers to examine lost historical knowledge and to carry the memory of this place and its people. In doing so, it asks the question,