We Are Water

Project Description: ARTS and SPU worked with the community engagement team of Jill Freidberg (Shelf Life Community Stories), Rachel Kessler (Yesler Terrace Artist in Residence), Elisheba Johnson (artist, curator) and Inye Wokoma (Central Area photographer, journalist, and filmmaker), on a series of community engagement activities that asked people who have roots and/or relationships to the Central District, what they want to see in an artwork and how clean drinking water affects their lives.

Freeman was selected as a result of the community engagement to create a permanent artwork installation that honors the history and current experience of the African American community in the Central District through the idea that water connects the community to history, place and freedom. 

Artwork Description: We Are Water is a large-scale mixed media mural that features bold porcelain enamel letters that spell out CENTRAL DISTRICT. Within each letter are photographs of past and present Central District residents and businesses collected by Freeman from the community through engagement events, social media calls for images, and through a partnership with The Black Heritage Society of Washington, who allowed access to their historical archives. Freeman states, “It was important for me to create a public work that my beloved Central District community could identify and interact with. This one piece of art tells an infinite amount of our stories. This piece will be a history lesson for future generations to come.“

Location: 23rd Avenue South and South Massachusetts Street