The Sam Fox School presents the annual Fumihiko Maki Lecture, which will center on the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers (MEL) at the University of Virginia. The lecture will feature several collaborators on the project:
- Eric Höweler and J. Meejin Yoon, co-principals of Höweler + Yoon Architecture
- Mabel O. Wilson, cultural historian and designer, Studio &; Nancy and George Rupp Professor of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Professor in African American and African Diasporic Studies, and Director of the Institute for Research in African American Studies (IRAAS), Columbia University
- Frank Dukes, mediator and facilitator, Institute for Engagement & Negotiation at the University of Virginia
- Gregg Bleam, landscape architect and principal, Gregg Bleam Landscape Architect
- Eto Otitigbe, artist
A discussion will immediately follow the lecture, with the following members of the Washington University community serving as respondents:
- James Kolker, associate vice chancellor and university architect
- Geoff Ward, professor of African and African-American studies in Arts & Sciences
The online lecture is free and open to the public, but registration is required.
The design team will present the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers at UVA, which was dedicated in 2020. The memorial honors the lives, labor, and perseverance of the approximately 4,000 enslaved men, women, and children who built and sustained the daily life of faculty and students at the university between 1817 and 1865. The result of a collaborative design process involving UVA students, the Charlottesville community, and descendants of the enslaved, the memorial is sited in the valley on the east side of the Lawn, directly east of Jefferson’s famous rotunda.
