Support the Kingman Park Community Art Project

Kingman Park deserves a dynamic and beautiful public art project that celebrates our neighborhood’s storied past. By signing this petition, we express our support for the creation of an art installation that recognizes and celebrates the cultural significance of Kingman Park at its treasured triangle park.

Friends of Kingman Park civic association members voted at our April meeting to pursue a grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities to fund the creation of a sculptural art installation at the triangle park within Oklahoma, 21st, and D Streets NE. To execute this project, FOKP is working with Wayside Studios, whose principal is DC-based artist and Howard University professor Curry Hackett. Both Hackett and collaborating artist, Patrick McDonough, have extensive experience crafting site-responsive public art in collaboration with neighborhood stakeholders - experience they will bring to bear on this project.

FOKP’s grant application is an important complement to the historic designation of the Kingman Park community in 2018. As the historic designation report explains, Kingman Park is historic not necessarily because of its buildings. Instead, the designation celebrates the people who lived in the Kingman Park community, the obstacles they overcame during segregation, and the strong community they formed over generations. Regardless of how you feel about the technical historic designation, we can all agree that Kingman Park’s history is something worthy of commemoration and respect.

There will be a detailed design process if our grant application is successful. We have worked with the artists on conceptual ideas, and will continue to engage with the community to incorporate feedback as the project advances.

FOKP has delivered flyers to Kingman Park neighbors and has provided updates on our grant application in our community emails. If you would like to be added to our email list or have questions about the project, please email us at [email protected].