Community Invited To Meet Wilkes Street Park Artist Eto Otitigbe At Virtual Reception

Press release from the City of Alexandria:

Feb 16, 2021 at 7:01 PM

Community Invited to Meet
Wilkes Street Park Artist Eto Otitigbe at Virtual Reception

For Immediate Release: February
17, 2021

The community is invited to a virtual reception to meet
artist Eto Otitigbe on Wednesday, February 24, 2021 at 7 p.m. Otitigbe has been
commissioned by the City of Alexandria to create a unique, site specific work
of art for Wilkes Street Park as part of the park’s redesign. At the virtual
reception, Otitigbe will share information about himself and his work and
answer questions with staff about the project and the process.

Otitigbe will also be at Wilkes Street Park on Thursday, February
25th at noon to tour the site and gather ideas for his project and
will be available to meet and talk with residents and passers-by about their
experiences in the park in accordance with all Covid-19 safety guidelines and
restrictions.

Information about the virtual event, including the Zoom link
and phone number, can be found here.
More information about the project can be found on the City’s website here.

For questions about this project or to request reasonable
disability accommodations, contact diane.ruggiero@alexandriava.gov or
call 703.746.5590, Virginia Relay 711.

About Eto Otitigbe

Eto Otitigbe is a polymedia artist who sets alternative
narratives into motion, creating spaces for unique experiences. His
interdisciplinary practice includes sculpture, performance, installation, and public
art.

Otitigbe's work has been in national and international
exhibitions such Bronx Calling: The Second AIM Biennial, organized by the Bronx
Museum and Wave Hill. He has participated in residencies at the Massachusetts
Museum of Contemporary Art, The John L. Warfield Center for African and African
American Studies, Austin, TX; 701 CCA, Columbia, SC; Center for Book Arts, New
York, NY; and Luminary Center for the Arts, St. Louis, MO. Otitigbe’s
fellowships and awards include the CEC Artslink Project Award, Smithsonian
Artist Research Fellowship at the National Museum of African Art.

His curatorial projects include the es ORO Gallery (2007-09)
and the Topophilia Exhibition (2017) as part of the Meeting Festival in
Denmark. Otitigbe’s public art practice includes temporary and permanent
installations. He contributed to the creative expression on the exterior
surface of the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers.

He is an Assistant Professor of Sculpture in the Art
Department at Brooklyn College and the Director of the Turnbull Gallery in New
York. He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, his M.S. in
Product Design from Stanford University (M.S.) and his MFA in Creative Practice
from the University of Plymouth.

About Wilkes Street Park

Wilkes Street Park is a linear 0.7-acre neighborhood park
located in Old Town and the historic location of Alexandria's first free black
community referred to as "The Bottoms". The park is bisected
into two sections, aligning with the 800 (east) and 900 (west) blocks of Wilkes
Street between S. Patrick (U.S. Route 1) and S. Columbus Streets. The South
Patrick Housing Affordability Strategy, adopted in 2019, envisions Wilkes
Street Park to be accessible and accommodating to all ages and abilities. The
plan recommends improvements such as play areas, seating, and open passive
areas. The design of the park improvements will be done in collaboration with
the Heritage Redevelopment. Developers will construct the park improvements in
phases, as a condition of their redevelopment approvals.

This press release was produced by the City of Alexandria.The views expressed here are the author’s own.