40 ACRES: Camp Barker
by Sandy Williams IV
Garrison Elementary, 1200 S St NW
February 15 - September 30, 2024
Opening Celebration February 15, 2024 at Garrison Elementary, 3:30-5 PM
Commissioned by CulturalDC and supported in part by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities through the Public Art Building Communities Grant, Sandy Williams IV will create a 6ft wax replica of the Lincoln Memorial. The installation is a direct commentary on DC’s history of Civil War-era Contraband Camps, refugee camps that housed formerly enslaved and free African Americans. Camp Barker was positioned where Garrison Elementary now stands.
This will be the third public installation of Williams’ 40 ACRES Archive: The Wax Monument series. In this series, Williams creates wax replicas in the image of popular public monuments and cultural symbols such as Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, J. E. B. Stuart, and Thomas Jefferson. This archive is a multidisciplinary project centering on an investigation into the history of the Reconstruction era, which historians often refer to as the second founding of America. They’re malleable, participatory, and public by nature, and the presence of wicks gives viewers the opportunity to transform these candles with a small flame and time.
The Fall IV (Lincoln) [2022]
Sandy Williams IV’s Garrison Elementary Greet the Week interview with Grayson Maiselman
About Camp Barker
Camp Barker, a former federally funded contraband camp, was located where Garrison Elementary now stands. It served as a refuge for escaped and freed slaves during the Civil War. Contraband camps played an important role in the transition to freedom during the Civil War. While camp conditions were often undesirable, the camp was a symbol of hope and resilience, where individuals could rebuild their lives and find a sense of community. The camps provided a safe haven and an opportunity for freedom for those seeking to escape slavery.
Contraband Camps were established to provide shelter and support for escaped slaves who sought refuge behind Union lines. These camps offered education, medical care, and employment opportunities to the newly freed individuals. They became centers of empowerment, where people could reclaim their identities and envision a brighter future.
Oral histories collected by President Abraham Lincoln’s biographer, John E. Washington, record that President Lincoln frequently encountered Camp Barker during his presidency. He would often stop by the camp to visit with the refugees during his daily Summer commute from his home adjacent to the Soldier’s Home Northeast DC, now known as “Lincoln’s Cottage.”
Black Lincoln
Limited edition exclusive to CulturalDC.
This is a black beeswax candle with wicks created in exact replica of the Lincoln Memorial.
This is a made to order item within a limited run. This item will ship or be available for pick up between 4-6 weeks from the initial order.
Dimensions: 5.5 x 5.5 x 6 inches
Sandy Williams IV
Sandy Williams IV (they/he/she) is an artist and educator whose work generates moments of communal catharsis. Their conceptual and research-based practice uses time itself as a material, and works collaboratively with communities to unfold hidden legacies in common spaces. Sandy work problematizes the temporal legacy of public monuments by investigating concepts of time, memory, and agency. Their work maps the invisible tactics of colonial, contemporary, and conceptual occupation, and invites the viewer to participate in the emancipation of public space by unraveling structures of power and repression in North America.
“Traditionally, monuments are made to sit and collect a patina, as they withstand change, in an attempt to eternalize a particular reality, I am interested in visualizing change, and building monuments able to keep a living record of activity. By melting these wax versions of famous monuments, people are given agency over these forms that are normally (legally) untouchable.”
- Sandy Williams IV
Sandy was recently accepted into The Shed’s Open Call, a large-scale commissioning program for early-career NYC-based artists. For its third iteration, 18 proposals out of more than 1,200 total submissions by artists and collectives were chosen by interdisciplinary leaders and professionals in their fields, including other artists and members of The Shed’s staff, to present work in an exhibition in October 2023 and a performance series in summer 2024. Selected artists receive a commissioning fee of up to $15,000 depending on the scope of their projects, robust production support, and resources to further nurture their practices and expand their audiences. Sandy will be presenting 40 ACRES: Weeksville, a multilayered public performance that will take place on the ground and in the sky above Crown Heights, Brooklyn, NYC.
Previous Work
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