Drylongso: An Ode to the Southern Black Landscape was a solo gallery installation in the theTwelve’s gallery space in Union Market District, and constituted an acknowledgment and celebration of Black everyday life in the American South.

This multi-generational collection of recorded phone conversations from my family in rural Prospect, VA offered a rich array of the under-recognized yet customary ways Black folks maintain and care for land, space, and people.

Drylongso aggregated research supported by the Washington Project for the Arts’ Wherewithal Research Grant program.

The Howard Theatre Walk of Fame is one of the city’s largest public art projects, solicited by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Located in the historic Shaw neighborhood and “Black Broadway”, the Walk consists of fifteen hand-carved bronze medallions, each depicting a cultural icon that performed at the iconic Howard Theatre.

The Walk presents a new visual language for the area, and demonstrates the value of preserving under-recognized histories.

The team included sculptors Jay Coleman and Joanna Blake, with advisory support from Harry G. Robinson, III, FAIA.

Photographs by Donovan Gerald.