Chrystal Seawood

In Loving Memory… was a recreation of a candlelight street vigil. This installation explored how Black masculine youth express feelings of grief and loss without negative social consequences and presented a collection of found objects, roses, handmade materials, and custom grief balloons.

Visitors were invited to contribute a small personal item in remembrance, write a personal note, & pour out a libation in loving memory of their own loved ones. This work was sponsored by Kingsman Academy Public Charter School of Washington, D.C., and designed and constructed in collaboration with a cohort of students and staff. Students also helped design custom grief balloons for their deceased loved ones. A special thanks must go to several people for making this exhibit a memorable moment in time: Thank you, Pamela Perkins, LGSW, for on-site emotional support during the install and exhibition. Thank you, my dear grandmother, LaVerne Jones, Juan Tyler-Curtis, Meche, and Corey Harris for their live performance of Going up Yonder. Thank you WOP Project, a youth organization focused on ending gun violence in Washington, D.C. Thank you, Stephen Cherry, for capturing these moments in photographs. Thank you SistaSageWellness for hand pouring candles with care.