Design Concepts
Designs came in from 45 teams across three continents and more than a dozen states. These teams created incredible and moving public art and memorials. The teams included artists and landscape architects. Their previous work includes the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania; the African Burial Ground Memorial in New York; the Gate of Freedom in Birmingham; and the African Burying Ground and Memorial Park in New Hampshire.
The three semi-finalist teams chosen to submit design concepts for the Ed Johnson Memorial presented their ideas to the Chattanooga community on February 15, 2018. The finalist, chosen by a diverse selection committee of Chattanoogans, was announced on March 19, 2018 the 112th anniversary of Ed Johnson’s lynching death.
To learn more about the team design concepts, check out the pictures below and click on the link to see their Powerpoint presentations.
Rodney Leon, Ai Qiu Hopen and Elizabeth Kennedy
This team is comprised of Rodney Leon Architects, Elizabeth Kennedy (Landscape Artist), and Ai Qiu Hopen (Sculptor). “Our intention is to go beyond remembrance and create an opportunity to promotte racial healing, encourage reconciliation in Chattanooga, Tennessee, heal the rift in the community and provide hope for unity as a society in our future generations.”
NBW Landscape Architects
and Lord Cultural Resources
This team is comprised of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, Lord Cultural Resources, Sandy Williams IV, Ebony Noelle Golden, and Eric Finley. This team’s focus for the memorial includes creating a space for dialogue, to reveal the story, a space for hearing, and to create a living memorial for Ed Johnson.
Jerome Meadows
This team is comprised of Jerome Meadows (Sculptor), and members of Ross/Fowler Landscape Architecture Urban Design & Planning. Focuses of the memorial would include a creation of a Sacred Space for storytelling, sculptures dedicated to the other three victims lynched in Hamilton County, and recognizing the importance of Ed Johnson and the lawyers who took on this historical case.