The exhibition is planned for The Brister Hill Loop, part of the forest named for Brister Freeman, an enslaved man who won his freedom by serving in the Revolutionary War and then bought property in Walden Woods and lived there along with other formerly enslaved. This area holds the untold stories of people who etched out their lives in an area inhospitable to growth. The exhibit intends to be a historically informed temporary outdoor installation in this area to remember those whose lives remain unmarked to express the importance and fullness of history that exists within the background of this historical site.
This project is part of The Umbrella Arts Center’s long standing Art Ramble tradition, but is extended this year because of the 250 celebration. Viewers will walk a trail that has one monument to Brister Freeman and is otherwise named Thoreau’s trail where quotes accompany you throughout. Between 10 and 12 works will be dispersed and placed along a marked path leading to the Reflection Circle.
The participating artists will pull their inspiration from the research and information provided about Walden Woods with the primary source of research being the book Black Walden: Slavery and Its Aftermath in Concord, Massachusetts by Elise Lemire.
The site-specific exhibition will be a combination of sculpture, installation and live performance inspired by the inhabitants of these woods to evoke their presence and to express the experiences of their lives within the space. Many of the artists will also have work in a show that will be being held concurrently in the Allie Kussin Gallery at The Umbrella Arts Center.
