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Sparking Conversations: 1708 Gallery’s Billboards Spotlight Social Issues, Civic Participation

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Two new exhibitions from 1708 Gallery invite guests outside with billboard installations around the city. Artists Wilmer Wilson IV, Earl Mack, and Nikko Dennis hope to spread positivity and start important conversations.

Under the auspices of 1708 Gallery, public art installations by Wilmer Wilson IV and Chilalay founders Nikko Dennis and Earl Mack are currently on display around Richmond, hoping to invoke conversation on themes such as racial injustice, activism, policing, politics, and civil participation.

’til bronze flows through the streets, a billboard series by Richmond-born artist Wilmer Wilson IV, intends to disrupt billboards’ typical role of advertising by using the platforms to display texts and imagery that will initiate discussion about the anti-police brutality protests and other local activism happening around Richmond over the past few months.  

“I hope people will spend time re-imagining our shared institutions from the ground up,” Wilson said via email, “and catching glimpses of the beauty that awaits there, amidst all of the hard work that it will take to truly change how we relate to one another.”

Richmond has been and still is one of the pivotal sites of movements against systemic racism and police brutality. The removal of Confederate monuments, just a few of the many buildings and architectural structures around the city that are rooted in Richmond’s past, has been a discussion over the past summer.

To Wilson, the removal of such monuments falls short of establishing meaningful structural change, and allows systemic racism to silently continue. He wants his billboards to be a starting point for more conversations about this idea.

“Virginia history is one of terror in so many different ways. It’s visible in the very infrastructure of the city of Richmond,” he said. “Intervening onto the infrastructure and the landscape, however small or temporary, felt meaningful, hopefully not just to me but to all whom this place subjugated, and continues to subjugate, to constitute itself.”

The locations of Wilson’s three billboards are no accident either. Wilson said that two of the billboards, which are displayed together on the 200 block of West Grace St and are entirely text, are located across from the Richmond Police Department as an “annotation to or interjection into its existence there.”

The third billboard, located at 21st St and East Broad in Church Hill, is image-based, which Wilson said allows a “more grounded entry point” for conversations surrounding activism and political activity in that residential area, which he notes has recently undergone “fraught social changes.”

Wilmer Wilson IV, ’til bronze flows through the streets, 2020. Billboard, dimensions variable. Photograph by David Hale, courtesy of the Artist and 1708 Gallery.

Bronze and brass are at the core of Wilson’s pieces, two metals that, he said, are historically known for their durability, corrosion resistance, and spark-striking resistance. These copper alloys are used for cultural and utilitarian purposes, and Wilson suggested that in the same way, existing public structures that call to mind, and thereby reinforce, institutional racism can be “melted down” for a better use — perhaps rebuilding our institutions.

The second billboard project 1708 Gallery is currently presenting in Richmond is called SMILE… It was created by Nikko Dennis and Earl Mack, founders of the local design and apparel brand Chilalay.

Driving down Chamberlayne Parkway, drivers and passengers are greeted by a yellow-pink gradient billboard with a reminder to smile. The billboard suggests that a brighter future can be achieved through collective positivity and civil participation, such as voting. Part of the billboard stresses Richmonders to vote for “justice” and “peace” on Nov. 3.

Since the billboard is located in Jackson Ward, it was important for the gallery to make sure the space was occupied by voices within that area, explained 1708 Gallery’s curator, Park Myers. 

“Beyond the incredible importance of the neighborhood, it was important in working with and inviting Chilalay, because of that,” said Myers. “Their entire creative endeavor, their business, where they cultivate their ideas, happens in Jackson Ward.”

Dubbed “Black Wall Street” and “the Harlem of the South,” Jackson Ward has been a historic center for Black entertainment and businesses since the nineteenth century. To this day, the neighborhood remains a cultural hub for Richmond’s Black community.

Both Dennis and Mack are Virginia Commonwealth University alumni. Having launched their Black-owned small business in 2012, their presence in the Jackson Ward neighborhood has been well-established. 

When drivers or pedestrians pass by the billboard, Mack said he wants it to serve a reminder that some things are beyond our control, no matter how hard we try to fix them. “No matter what you’re going through, a smile will last forever,” Mack said.

While planned since before the pandemic began, the billboard installations are part of 1708’s continuous effort during the coronavirus pandemic to hold socially-distanced onsite and offsite exhibitions.

“We’re thinking about how our ambitions to support emerging artists continues in a time when we might not be able to be viewing exhibitions within the gallery space,” Myers said.

‘til bronze flows through the streets is now on view through Dec. 4 on 211 W. Grace St. and at the intersection of North 21st St. and East Broad St. SMILE… can be viewed until Nov. 29 at the intersection of West Jackson St and Chamberlayne Avenue.

Photos by David Tran unless otherwise noted

Recontextualizing the Lost Cause

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Valentine museum founder Edward Valentine was responsible for sculpting multiple Confederate monuments around Richmond. Now the museum he founded hopes to display his statue of Jefferson Davis in order to confront the role Valentine, and Richmond, played in the Lost Cause.

Following the protests in Richmond over the summer and the subsequent removal of Confederate statues from Monument Avenue, some of those statues were taken to a wastewater treatment plant for storage. But for the majority of the statues, as with statues taken down across the country, their longterm destination is currently unknown. 

Some people have called for Confederate statues to be displayed in museums, but there are not many cases of that happening at the moment. However, the Valentine, a museum in Downtown Richmond near VCU’s medical campus, wants to acquire the statue of Jefferson Davis that formerly resided on Monument Ave. They hope to reinterpret and recontextualize the work in an upcoming exhibit, which will highlight Richmond’s role in the Lost Cause — and that of the Valentine itself.

The Valentine was co-founded in 1898 by Richmond sculptor Edward Virginius Valentine. Valentine was born in 1838 in Richmond. He studied as a bronze sculptor in Paris, Italy, and Berlin before returning to Virginia. Once he’d returned, he sculpted several statues, many of which were of Confederate figures, to be displayed across Virginia, as well as in Washington, D.C., and New Orleans.

Some Richmond statues that were produced by Valentine include Williams Carter Wickham in Monroe Park, Thomas Jefferson in front of the Jefferson Hotel, and both Matthew Maury and Jefferson Davis on Monument Avenue. As the sculptor of so many of Virginia’s Confederate monuments, Valentine is known as one of the primary creators of Lost Cause iconography.

Sculpture tools of Edward Valentine. Photo via The Valentine/Facebook

The Lost Cause movement began in the years following the Civil War. In the early 1900s, organizations such as the Sons and Daughters of the Confederacy erected Confederate statues in order to preserve racist power structures in the South. They also published and distributed textbooks instilling the notion that the Civil War began over states’ rights and the threat from the increasingly aggressive North, as opposed to over slavery. 

“Part of the role [Valentine] plays is creating a series of monuments and sculptures related to the Civil War. But he also becomes part of a movement to create a new story around the Civil War,” said Bill Martin, the museum’s director. “All of these things created, at least for white people in the South, a sense of comfort. They were dealing with something that was so horrible, the only way you could look back at it was to create a myth.”

The Lost Cause picked up steam in the 1880s and lasted well into the 20th century. The first statue on Monument Avenue, Robert E. Lee, was erected in 1890 and Matthew Maury, the last one to arrive before the unveiling of Arthur Ashe in 1996, wasn’t erected until 1929. Lost Cause imagery and messages were prominent in The Valentine until the 1930s, when the museum, which had been run by the Valentine family throughout its history, began to be managed by a professional staff. At the time, The Valentine was the only museum in Richmond.

“We’re art, we’re science, we’ve got archaeological stuff, you name it,” said Martin. “We were the Smithsonian of Richmond.”

With the shift in management came a shift in focus for the museum as well, to Virginia’s history — but not the revisionist history that was characteristic of the Lost Cause era. In the 1950s, The Valentine curated one the earliest exhibitions on Richmond’s Jewish community, followed by exhibits on African Americans in the city.

“In the last 50 years, the institution has been pushing people to think about Richmond’s history differently,” said Martin.

The Valentine intends to continue providing a candid look at the city’s history with The Valentine Studio Project, their upcoming exhibit that will reinterpret and recontextualize the work of Valentine. The center of this exhibit will be the statue sculpted by Edward Valentine of Confederate president Jefferson Davis in its current state, covered in pink paint and dents from being knocked down into the street by demonstrators in June.

The Jefferson Davis statue on Monument Avenue, immediately after being toppled by protesters on June 11, 2020. Photo by Landon Shroder.

The acquisition of the statue has to be approved by City Council, and the museum plans to use 2021 as a planning period in order to get the exhibit ready while they await the decision from the local government. The museum has also published a survey online, which is open until November 1, to get an idea of what the public knows about the Lost Cause, as well as whether they are interested in things such as guided tours through the exhibits.

“If you’re talking about racism, do you just want to talk about it with the people you came with? Do you want to talk about it with your family members after the fact? Or is something you might be comfortable discussing in a small group setting?” said Christina Vida, the exhibition’s curator. “For us, that’s going to help us gauge not only the normal visitor experience, but also some of the programs that we’ll continue to plan for once the studio space is open to the public.”

By displaying the statue in its current state, The Valentine intends to tell the story of the Lost Cause and Richmond’s pivotal role in the movement, but also of the protests that took place in the city’s streets this summer.

“With most of the city’s Confederate statues having come down in June and early July of 2020, it puts a physical end point on the Lost Cause public art here in town,” said Vida. “And yet, there are so many impacts that we’re still experiencing, whether it’s in housing or healthcare or education disparities, that just taking down public art isn’t going to fix.”

The Valentine hopes that, by starting with history and moving to current events, they can show the ways in which the decisions Richmond made a century ago are still impacting the city today.

“We would like to address 2020,” said Vida, “so that when our guests leave The Valentine, they walk out with fresh eyes, and are thinking about how Richmond 100 or 150 years ago is still present.”

Top Photo by Joey Wharton

Get Up Offa That Thing

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On Saturday, a crowd cheered as the “At Ready” Confederate statue was removed from its place of prominence at the Albemarle County Courthouse near Charlottesville.

The August 2017 events in Charlottesville were the catalyst for the removal of Confederate monuments around the country, but the area had yet to see any of its own monuments removed — that is, until Saturday, September 12. On that day, the “At Ready” statue, located on the lawn of the Albemarle County Circuit Court near downtown Charlottesville, was taken down.  

For 111 years, the 19-foot-tall bronze monument, depicting a life-size Confederate soldier, stood in front of the Albemarle County Courthouse. The County of Albemarle, City of Charlottesville, and the United Daughters of the Confederacy paid to install the statue, along with two cannons and cannonballs, in 1909. The county-owned property is a few blocks from the statue of General Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville’s Market Street Park, the proposed removal of which led to the Unite the Right Rally in August 2017.

The statue as it appeared pre-removal. Photo via Matt Talhelm/Twitter

More than 100 masked spectators, including current and former elected officials, community members, and activists, assembled along East Jefferson Street, just outside of the metal construction barricades erected at Court Square, to see the historic moment unfold. Some gathered as early as 6 a.m., witnessing the arrival of trucks, a forklift, and other moving equipment, along with workers in hard hats, safety vests, and face masks, who were tasked with the removal.

The overcast sky could have laid a somber air over the proceedings, but the crowd was upbeat and celebratory. “It’s a great day for Charlottesville,” one community member said amongst the crowd. WXTJ 100.1 FM, the University of Virginia’s student radio station, broadcast from the street, playing tunes like Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come,” Gil Scott-Heron’s “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” and James Brown’s “Get Up Offa That Thing.” People danced as they kept an eye on the process, cheering and clapping each time one of the items moved from its location — first a cannon, then another, followed by the statue, and finally its base and cannonballs. 

Photo by Erin Edgerton, via Twitter

The County of Albemarle planned to hold an official community gathering at Court Square to commemorate the event. “The community put the statue up, and we really wanted the community to be part of taking the statue down,” said Emily Kilroy, Director of Communications and Public Engagement. Ultimately, Albemarle opted for a livestream event, as local ordinances restrict gatherings to 50 people.

“We worked really hard to plan an inclusive event,” Kilroy said. “We wanted it to be an educational opportunity for people to understand why this is so significant.” The livestream, which is still available on the County of Albemarle Facebook page, included history about the statue’s placement in 1909, information about its removal, and an up-close view of the work. 

For many, this day was years in the making. In 2018, activist Matthew Christensen petitioned the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors to remove the “At Ready” statue. Discussions around the removal of statues within the city’s limits began even earlier. In 2016, the City of Charlottesville organized the Blue Ribbon Commission on Race, Memorials, and Public Spaces (BRC), which sought public comment on the statues and made recommendations to Charlottesville City Council.

“This is a moment of redemption, a moment of reconciliation, and a moment where we move the needle of progress in a positive way,” said local activist and Chair of the BRC Don Gathers, who was in attendance for Saturday’s statue removal.

Photo by Erin Edgerton, via Twitter

In August, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to remove the “At Ready” statue from its location on the courthouse lawn. Virginia law prevented localities from removing Confederate monuments prior to July 1 of this year, at which point new legislation went into effect, granting local governments the power to determine what to do with these statues.

According to Scottsville District Supervisor Donna Price, the decision to remove the statue, cannons, and cannonballs from their prominent location at the courthouse was easy. “I believe courthouses are our hallowed halls of justice, and nothing except that which elevates a sense of equal justice, social justice, equal rights, should be on courthouse grounds,” said Price.

What to do with these items, on the other hand, presented a challenge. According to state law, the Board of Supervisors had to wait 30 days after its vote to remove the statue, during which time offers must be made to relocate the statue to a museum, historical society, government, or military battlefield. After reviewing a list of potential recipients, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors ultimately determined that the Confederate items would be relocated to a Civil War battlefield under the stewardship of the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation (SVBF). The County of Albemarle paid approximately $63,000 to a private contractor to complete the work of removing the items; the SVBF covered the cost of transportation. 

Price and others were concerned about the recipient, but there was not a sufficient consensus among the Board of Supervisors to defer the disposition decision. “While the choice of the recipient may not necessarily have been fully satisfactory to every member of the Board,” Price said, “the removal and disposition was ultimately determined by the six of us to be the best decision we could make under the circumstances that we had at that time.”

Photo by Erin Edgerton, via Twitter

Local activists shared their displeasure about the statue’s new location. University of Virginia Associate Professor of Religious Studies and community organizer Jalane Schmidt said, “I was really glad when they voted unanimously to get rid of it but very disappointed with where it’s going.” Schmidt described the SVBF as “a major purveyor of the Lost Cause here in our region,” adding, “It is not morally or ethically acceptable to be disposing of our toxic waste at the expense of other communities that had no say at all in this stuff coming to their community.” 

Between the City of Charlottesville, the County of Albemarle, and the University of Virginia, there are a number of monuments still standing that are considered problematic by local activists. Among them are monuments to Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson in Charlottesville, the removal of which is currently being prevented by an injunction. The Virginia Supreme Court will hear a Charlottesville lawsuit, including an appeal of the injunction, in November.

In light of all the remaining statues, activists considered the removal of “At Ready” a positive step, but far from a complete victory. “This is just another battle in the war. Our ancestors have been fighting the same war for centuries now,” Gathers said. “We certainly can’t give up the fight at this point. It’s a victory won, but there are many more that still need to be won.”

Top Photo by Erin Edgerton, via Twitter

From Pandemic to Protests: Chronicling Our Community During COVID-19

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As the COVID-19 pandemic upended all of our lives this spring, Rachel Everett got together with photographer Tania del Carmen Fernandez to document how well Richmond is holding up. Their multimedia project is called #OnHoldAtHome.

In March 2020, COVID-19 disrupted the lives of people all over the world. From the fear of falling ill to the awkwardness of social distancing to the adjustment of working from home or losing a job, our normal routines were upended on many levels. 

As a creative director, my business, like that of countless other non-essential workers, felt an immediate impact from the pandemic. Despite the downturn, or perhaps inspired by it, the desire to create was stronger than ever. My neighbor, fine art photographer Tania del Carmen Fernández, felt the same way. After a year’s worth of previously scheduled shoots was canceled, she was determined to find a meaningful way to remain productive.

At a social distancing gathering in our Fan neighborhood, it became clear the pandemic was affecting people differently. As a parent, Tania had the additional layer of complexity of trying to figure out childcare, while an immuno-compromised neighbor worried about exposure at the grocery store. We were all weathering the same storm, but we were definitely not in the same boat.

COVID-19 affects everyone, everywhere. But it affects different groups of people differently, deepening existing inequalities.

–Angela
“I think we can truly grow as a society from this experience,” states Noah Scalin (pictured here with his family.) Scalin is one of many local artists collaborating with Hamilton Glass, creator of the public art project Mending Walls. Photo by Tania del Carmen.

Given the varied situations just in our neighborhood, we knew more stories were out there. Therefore, Tania and I joined forces to create #OnHoldAtHome, a photo series documenting the hopes, fears, and lessons of Richmonders during COVID-19. As weeks turned into months, we expanded the project to feature people in other neighborhoods to better reflect our diverse community.

In May, the challenges of the pandemic were then met with the rise of protests over George Floyd’s killing, bringing the topic of racial and social inequality front and center. Richmond, former capital of the Confederacy, soon found itself in the national spotlight with public demands for removal of Confederate memorials, amidst the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement. On July 1, Mayor Levar Stoney ordered the removal of all city-owned Confederate statues, stating, “Richmond is no longer the Capital of the Confederacy – it is filled with diversity and love for all – and we need to demonstrate that.”

What began as a project to unite people through shared experiences of sheltering in place has now transformed into a powerful documentation of this historic time in Richmond. #OnHoldAtHome aims to provide a platform to help amplify voices and foster open, honest discussions on race, politics, and systemic inequality. It is our hope that by sharing stories, we have an opportunity to learn and grow with one another and ultimately, cultivate a kinder, more compassionate, and more empathetic society.

It turns out that community, human connection, companionship… that is what keeps me sane.

— Christina
Christina Marie is a graphic designer and founder/bandleader of Turkish pop band Yeni Nostalji. She admits she’s struggled with the amount of time she’s spent alone, and feeling like she’s not doing enough to help. Photo by Tania del Carmen.

#OnHoldAtHome is currently made up of three distinct chapters:

Chapter 1: The Lockdown Begins (March 15-April 19)

The first of many COVID-19 cases is reported in Virginia. Governor Northam declares a state of emergency and extensive closures of schools and businesses begin. As we witness the number of cases exponentially increase each week, the dangers of the virus become evident. Face masks and social distancing become the norm, and residents are urged to stay at home as much as possible.

When times are tough, it’s important to help and be open minded to those around you.

— Nick
While martial arts specialist Master Lorenzo Gibson (left) is focused on financial and health concerns, his son Nick worries about social implications as people forget how to interact with others who have different beliefs and values. Photo by Tania del Carmen.

Chapter 2: Time Loses Meaning (April 19-May 24)

Days blur into weeks. Weeks into months. By the end of April, the U.S. reports over 1 million COVID-19 cases. The U.S. economy shrinks by nearly 5 percent (the steepest drop since the Great Recession in 2008) and unemployment is at nearly 15 percent. While there’s a general restlessness, people also try to make the most of this rare time when the entire world is paused.

Having had COVID-19, I’m living proof that the virus is brutal and can harm very healthy people.

— Anna
“I’m not sure my lungs will ever be the same,” states Anna Laughlin (pictured here with her husband and three children). Laughlin contracted the virus earlier this year and says the experience has been “very isolating and terrifying.” Photo by Tania del Carmen.

Chapter 3: Revolution In The Air (May 24-present)

After Memorial Day weekend, the country learns of the senseless killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. Protests erupt, and the Black Lives Matter movement sweeps the nation as well as abroad. In Richmond, Confederate statues are defaced and, eventually, most of them are removed. The pandemic remains, but the larger issues of racial and social inequality take precedence.

Racial and social inequality has always existed, but not many people (including those in power) were willing to discuss it…

— Shayy
Shayy Winn (right) stands with her mother and sister. The aspiring singer, who has a neurological condition causing vision impairment, competed in American Idol last year. She says the pandemic has helped her appreciate life more. Photo by Tania del Carmen.

Yes, we argue, but we also laugh more now.

— Alicia
“The depth of the inequities in this country and the world are alarming,” states Alicia Diaz (pictured here with her daughters). Originally from Puerto Rico, Diaz is a dance artist and educator who is the process of reimagining her livelihood. Photo by Tania del Carmen.

The pandemic has given us a certain amount of appreciation for routine and our home.

— Crixell
“Part of me hopes that we’ll see some positive change… but I’m also fairly pessimistic when it comes to humans,” states Crixell Matthews (pictured here with her fiancée, Morgan). Matthews, a photojournalist at VPM, has been documenting the RVA protests. Photo by Tania del Carmen.

This is an opportunity for us to search within ourselves and check for our own privileges.

— Daniel
Daniel Davis, who is pursuing a career in music production, recently produced a socially distanced collaboration – all proceeds are being donated to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Color of Change organizations. Photo by Tania del Carmen.

Black lives have mattered for centuries, and will continue to matter in the future.

— Liza
Liza Mickens (left), great-great granddaughter of Maggie L. Walker, is encouraged by the real, honest conversations that are happening around the inequalities of our health and financial systems, as well as police brutality. Photo by Tania del Carmen.

I do not think we will ever return to normal, but we are trying to live each day guided by hope and gratefulness.

— Laura
Laura Pho’s family is one of many who have chosen to self-isolate together. Laura (pictured above) is flanked by her two daughters, her mother (left) and mother-in-law (right). Not long after this photo was taken, Laura’s mother, Lucy Le, died unexpectedly. As part of their Buddhist faith, the family is honoring her in a 49-day mourning ritual. Photo by Tania del Carmen.

The world has been at a standstill, with clear minds and hearts – the truth rises.

— Carol
Carol Adams, an essential worker for 30 years, acknowledges the difficulty in communicating and educating the deadliness of the virus. “Surviving this new norm is going to require a lot of patience from everyone,” states Adams. Photo by Tania del Carmen.

According to The New York Times, the U.S. has the highest number of reported COVID-19 cases in the world, now surpassing five million. As we make our way through the first wave of this pandemic, it’s clear the world has shifted and will never be the same. While no one knows what chapter is coming next, one thing’s for certain: there are stories that still need to be told.

To learn more about the photo project or to nominate someone to be featured, visit #OnHoldAtHome and follow the stories on Instagram at @OnHoldAtHome.

Top Photo: Angela Patton in a moment of quiet reflection outside her home. Patton is CEO of Girls For A Change, a non-profit youth development organization aimed at empowering Black girls and other girls of color. Photo by Tania del Carmen. All photos were taken with the necessary precautions and from a distance of 6+ feet.

Bringing Down Monuments With Zines

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An interactive protest: Richmond artist Anna Gahagan’s latest zine pushes for social and racial equality, detailing confederate monuments, police mazes, and the road to justice. 

As protesters continue taking to the streets after 62 days of demonstrations, artists have stepped in to contextualize this moment in Richmond’s history. Anna Gahagan, a local Art History high school teacher, has created a zine titled “Deface This Monument” — a phrase that’s close to home for many who have joined the movement. 

The project began following the removal of the Columbus monument by protesters at Byrd Park on June 9. Gahagan’s zine includes graphics and cut-outs depicting the need for removal of Confederate monuments and social justice reforms called for by the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as covering other social issues like redlining. 

Gahagan’s latest zine expands on the mission of her first collection, “Symbols of Southern Pride,” which she began in 2017 after the violence at Charlottesville’s Unite The Right rally. The original artwork was created as a way to rebuild, but also acknowledge, the South’s important yet hurtful past.

IMAGE: “Deface This Monument” Zine by Anna Gahagan

“Those parts of history in the South might be more painful,” Gahagan said, “but I think [they] are important to know for people who, like myself, want to make impactful social change.” 

To visualize her attempt to rebuild — but also not forget — the South’s past, Gahagan asked her friends what comes to mind when they think of the South. She received some lighthearted answers, like “biscuits and gravy,” “walking outside with no shoes on,” and “mosquitoes,” which she included in her first project. 

“I started this drawing series by trying to find common experiences between people who consider themselves ‘Southerners,’” Gahagan said. “Something that would branch race, gender, or socioeconomic status… these collective memories.” 

“Symbols of Southern Pride” was the idea that kickstarted Gahagan’s current “Deface This Monument” project. Both zines work to support minorities, especially Black people, who have historically been at a disadvantage everywhere — but especially in the South. 

IMAGE: “Deface This Monument” Zine by Anna Gahagan

While Gahagan can’t physically join the protests alongside hundreds of people right now, she believes that “Deface This Monument” can be a form of protest in itself.

“I wanted to create a form of protest that I felt was accessible to people who might be in a similar position as myself,” Gahagan said. “When we’re protesting, we need to also make things accessible to people who have a disability.” 

Just by the name of Gahagan’s latest project, it’s an easy guess that she hopes to see the monuments taken down once and for all. While she hopes they’ll all be removed, in the grand scheme of things, she said it’s merely “a drop in the bucket.” 

“Sure, it’s great that these statues came down,” Gahagan said. “But again, I feel like it’s more of a distraction than it is a progressive move.”

In addition to bringing down Confederate monuments, Gahagan hopes the ongoing protests will help achieve other social justice goals in the area. She specifically wants to see more support for Richmond City Schools. Basic amenities like working sinks in school bathrooms, classrooms without mold, and struggles for funding to provide quality education in lower-income areas of Richmond are all factors holding back the public school system. Gahagan believes improving on these issues can help to eliminate social injustices. 

IMAGE: “Deface This Monument” Zine by Anna Gahagan

Community outreach is another remedy that Gahagan holds dear. She has made an effort to get to know her neighbors well, and is grateful for it; she noted that not being close with one’s neighborhood creates a gap in the community which ultimately causes more issues. 

“I think that’s a good first step, [for people] to get to know their neighbors and communities,” Gahagan said. “Put in the effort to be a member of that community… make sure your community is safe. I think, in the long run, that eliminates the need for police.” 

To learn more about Gahagan’s work, find her on Instagram. View and download “Deface This Monument” in digital form here.

So Long, First Virginia Regiment Monument, We Hardly Knew Ye

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No, but seriously — what was that monument in Meadow Park that protesters pulled down last month actually about? Was it a Confederate monument or not? We did some digging, and what we learned, well… it’s complicated.

Tucked between Park and Stuart Avenue, triangular-shaped Meadow Park now displays only the stone base of what once was a statue dedicated to the First Virginia Regiment. The fifth to be taken down by protestors, the statue was removed sometime during the night of June 19th and morning of the 20th.

With the statue gone, Richmond residents can now enjoy their picnic lunch from Garnett’s in the park without the presence of racist symbolism perched above their heads. Though, of course, if at any time one wishes to be reminded of this city’s dubious past, Marcus-David Peters Circle is just a two-block walk away. 

In the wake of the statue’s removal, media reports explaining what the statue represented and who it was intended to valorize were unclear, sometimes going so far as to condemn protesters who, people alleged, had mistakenly removed a non-Confederate monument. But those allegations didn’t sit right with us here at RVA Mag, so we decided to dig deeper and find out what reasons protesters might have had for singling out the First Virginia Regiment as worthy of dethroning. And sure enough, we found a few.

To begin with, the First Virginia Regiment has a history dating back over 250 years. The unit was formed before the Revolutionary War, when the United States were still colonies of Great Britain. It was originally under the command of George Washington in 1754, and the regiment’s first battle against the French and other indigenous groups was in alliance with the Iroquois Confederacy. It lasted 15 minutes. 

That battle occurred as part of what Americans know as the French and Indian War; in Canada and Europe, it’s known as the Seven Years War. In North America, it pitted the British and colonial forces against French colonial forces located in what are now the Canadian provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick.

After Washington took a French military officer as a prisoner of war, the Iroquian leader, known to his people as Half King, killed the officer without warning using a type of ax native to indigenous people.

According to the book Crucible of War: The Seven Years’ War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, the Half King had history with the French and the native people faced losing more land in the Ohio River Valley. Sold into slavery at a young age, he claimed that he and his father were kidnapped, his father boiled and eaten by the French.

The plaque on the monument to the First Virginia Regiment mentions Fort Necessity, where the regiment surrendered with Washington, in the only surrender of his military career. But the monument doesn’t just memorialize the original 237 men who fought for the regiment in the French and Indian War. It was commissioned to commemorate the regiment for participating in seven American wars, including the Civil War, when they fought alongside the Confederate Army.

Sculpted by Ferruccio Legnaioli and placed in the park on May 1, 1930, the statue’s remaining plaque now wears a spray-painted pink “FU” across its words. Underneath the graffiti, it reads: “Erected to the imperishable memory of the valiant fallen of the first regiment of Virginia infantry. Who through seven American wars endured hardships with patience, met defeat with constant courage, did not vaunt their victories, and steadfastly kept the faith with God and their country.”

Putting aside the obvious ignoring of America’s fundamental separation of church and state, the plaque has a few other issues as well. For starters, the original first regiment didn’t technically exist throughout all the wars they are referring to. The original regiment from 1754 that fought alongside George Washington and Joshua Fry is different from the First Regiment of Virginia Volunteers, which was created in 1846 to fight a war with Mexico and reorganized by the Confederate States Army at the beginning of the Civil War in 1861, according to Lee A. Wallace’s “The First Regiment of Virginia Volunteers, 1846-1848,” published by The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography in 1969.

The plaque continues, explaining that the regiment “joined the Confederate states to defend her honor and her sovereign rights. The First Regiment forthwith volunteered for duty.”

The First Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment fought with Kemper’s Brigade of Pickett’s division and the Army of Northern Virginia. It fought in Maryland and then at Gettysburg — which may mean it was part of Pickett’s Charge, the disastrous military maneuver that some consider a turning point in the Civil War — rejoining General Robert E. Lee before the confederacy’s surrender. 

“In twenty-two engagements it gave of the best until, overwhelmed, it honorably laid down its worn arms at Appomattox Courthouse, April 9 1865,” the plaque reads.

After that, the First Virginia Regiment’s legacy seems to continue; the plaque on the monument notes their involvement in the Mexican Border War in 1916 and World War I. This brings us to the beginning of the era during which the statue was placed in Meadow Park. And leaves us with a question: Given that this statue seems to commemorate multiple military units with multiple names, which were reorganized multiple times over the course of 165 years, what does it really stand for?

“Reorganized after the peace of 1919, the regiment pledges its dead to preserve their ideals of duty,” the plaque concludes. 

Whatever ideals the plaque alludes to didn’t seem worth preserving to the people of modern Richmond. And on June 19, they decided they weren’t going to wait for the city to agree with them.

All photos via Facebook