Commissioned by CulturalDC and supported 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 to be installed at Garrison Elementary School in Northwest Washington, DC. 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. Visitors and students will be invited to melt, carve, add, and contemplate the installation of the wax representation of Abraham Lincoln during the year-long installation at Garrison Elementary.