School is Out, Percent for Art commission, Stenton Park, Philadelphia, PA, 2019

I created a blackboard using the existing exterior wall of Stenton Park’s recreation center. I incorporated 25 engraved granite pavers in front of it, with quotes from local historical figures including Anthony Benezet (abolitionist, quaker and founder of the Negro School of Philadelphia), Richard Allen (a former slave who established the first African American religious denomination, the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1816), Lucretia Mott (abolitionist, social reformer and co-founder of Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society, one of the few racially integrated anti-slavery societies in the antebellum era) and James Logan (owner of Stenton House, this park’s namesake, a politician, justice, scholar and slave owner).

The blackboard is used by various entities in the park—an extension of the “classroom” inside the rec center for afterschool and summer programs and a public forum where varying voices and ideas can be heard. It is a space for individual reflection of the potent quotes indelibly engraved on the ground.