Proposal Narrative:
This sculpture intends to memorialize Tamar Brown and her role in establishing the Brownsville/Park Ave. Community with a human-sized, iconographic image of the original plat map of her lot of land, #1 of Beall’s Parcel. The sculpture will have a monumental presence with a modern aesthetic. As the sun moves around the sculpture, the light will shine through the number 1, glowing within the sculpture’s shadow on the ground. The names of Brownsville descendants and families will be written on the sculpture using metal letter stamps which emboss the letters directly into steel through hammering.
The intention is to establish an image and symbol of the Brownsville community which is in particular reference to Tamar Brown but which also generates questions and curiosity through the wider community about what the image means. The #1 on the land plat is an undeniable testament to Tamar Brown’s presence and the history of the homes in Brownsville. An important component of the piece is a community event in which families and descendants will be given the opportunity to hammer their own names into the steel of the sculpture. As new names come to light, they can be added to the sculpture in the same manner. We will include a map of the original Brownsville community on the sculpture using colorful torch-fired enamel on plot-shaped pieces of steel. The bright and varied colors acknowledge the many types of people whose lives were touched by Tamar Brown, and bring celebration in remembrance of Brownsville’s history. The map will be created to allow spaces between the plots of land in which names can be hammered,
as well as street spaces or around the map on other portions of the sculpture, as desired.