The Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County has issued a request for qualifications for artists interested in being included in a temporary multimedia public art exhibition titled “Certain Party or Parties Unknown.”
The council is organizing the exhibition in partnership with Montgomery County’s Remembrance and Reconciliation Commission. The goal is “furthering community dialogue about racial justice,” according to the announcement.
“This exhibition will bring awareness to a tragic aspect of Montgomery County’s history and reflect on the challenges that still exist as we seek racial equity and social justice,” Suzan Jenkins, AHCMC CEO, said in the announcement.
“Right now, America is being challenged to take a hard look at the horrors in this country’s history, which reverberate in experiences people in many communities have today,” she continued. “In light of the Senate’s inability to pass the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act last year, Montgomery County must remain strong in our commitment to acknowledge and better understand our current challenges by facing the reality of our past.”
According to Montgomery History, at least three instances of lynching are documented in the county, George Peck and John Diggs-Dorsey in 1880 and Sidney Randolph in 1896.
The RFQ is open to professional artists 18 years and older and is primarily seeking works presented by projection, whether still, video or projection mapping, on public buildings.
“The proposed location for this exhibition is the area of Courthouse Square in Rockville, approximately at Jefferson and Maryland avenues. This place is central to the story of racial justice in the county, specifically the three lynchings that occurred in this area,” according to the announcement.
The exhibition is planned for the first weekend in November 2021. BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, persons of color) and LGBTQ+ artists are encouraged to apply. The deadline for submission for “Certain Party or Parties Unknown” is Monday, Aug. 2, by 11:59 p.m.
AHCMC graphic
Multi-media RFQ Opportunity –> https://t.co/f7Dwtsazbk | AHCMC seeks #artists from the #DMV region to submit their qualifications for a temporary multi-media #publicart exhibition memorializing #AfricanAmericans who were lynched in #MoCo. | Deadline: August 2 @MontgomeryCoMD pic.twitter.com/MW5Y9A927r
— AHCMC (@creativemoco) July 9, 2021