New York City continues with a work of art to celebrate the abolitionist movement that some detractors say is too abstract in a city where so few monuments honor black people with figurative sculptures.
The city’s plan features a design by artist Kameelah Janan Rasheed that incorporates social justice messages into the benches and fringes of a new $15 million park in Brooklyn called Abolitionist Place.
The site belongs to a corner of Downtown Brooklyn adjacent to 227 Duffield Street, which was awarded landmark status last year for its association with anti-slavery proponents of the 1800s.
The city’s Public Design Commission said it submitted its discussion of the draft plan last January after a group of conservationists and activists said they believed the plan should include sculptures by the abolitionists. But in September, the city said it was making progress on the design, leading to a legal challenge filed this month by critics asking a judge to review the city’s approval process.
“We are frustrated,” said Jacob Morris, the historian who is challenging the decision by the Public Design Commission, which assesses all permanent city-owned monuments. He said the agency broke its own rules when it refused to hear additional public testimony before voting for conceptual approval of the $689,000 project at a meeting in September.
“This is our last resort,” Morris added.
For years, Morris and others have worked to set up a figurative sculpture called “Sisters in Freedom” in the same spot in downtown Brooklyn. It would honor historically significant black women such as investigative journalist Ida B. Wells and educator and abolitionist Sarah J. Garnet.
When he was president of the Brooklyn borough, New York City Mayor Eric Adams had supported the traditional landmark Morris would like to see built. In 2019, Adams wrote a letter to city officials saying the artwork would “bring these amazing, powerful women further into our consciousness.”
A spokeswoman for the mayor, Amaris Cockfield, did not respond to questions about where he stands on the decision to go ahead with a more abstract attempt at Abolitionist Place.
City officials said the plan to install the Rasheed work is not finalized yet and announced that the artist began holding online community engagement sessions this week to hear thoughts about her design. In addition, the Public Design Commission said it would continue to review the design and seek public input.
“We plan to hold another public hearing on this when it comes back for a preliminary review,” Keri Butler, the agency’s executive director, said via email.
An expert on approving the city’s public design scheme said she thought the legal challenge to the commission’s approval last fall was an uphill battle.
A legal challenge to get the monument back in a public hearing “seems a little extreme,” said Michele H. Bogart, an art historian who specializes in public works in the city. “He’s trying to force them to change the way they work, to make room for more public comment.”
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Shawné Lee, whose family has fought to preserve the neighborhood’s abolitionist history, supports the lawsuit. “I would like to see the Public Design Commission change their process and become more inclusive to the community,” she said. “Art is a form of expression, but will you allow us to express our concerns?”
The park that will house the abolitionist artwork will be directed by the city’s economic development agency and the design has been approved by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs.
Rasheed, a former public school teacher whose text-based banners have adorned the facade of the Brooklyn Museum, has drafted a design featuring a free-standing sculpture, mosaic reliefs and social justice messages scattered throughout the park.
Kendal Henry, assistant commissioner for public art in the city’s cultural affairs department, described the artist’s vision as “deeply rooted in collaboration.”
“We welcome input from anyone with a good faith interest in working with their neighbors to create a landmark,” Henry added in a statement.
Earlier this week, Rasheed spoke to the public in one of her online sessions, explaining that community input would shape many core elements of her installation, such as the lyrics. “We can only do this if we can respect each other,” she said.
She later sent DailyExpertNews a statement saying, “I want to be mindful of creating something that invites conversation, rather than stating historical facts.”
She said Morris and others misrepresented her work.
The questions and texts that will be used in the work “are designed to spark discussion,” Rasheed said. “And I’m excited that this project is not and never will be the only project before the abolition in Brooklyn.”