New Waterfront Art Installation To Host Opening In Alexandria

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Visitors to Alexandria's Waterfront Park will again enjoy a new art installation opening Saturday.

The new installation, Break Water by D.C.-based artist Nekisha Durrett, will open Saturday, March 22 at Waterfront Park (1A Prince St, Alexandria, VA). Alexandria's Office of the Arts will host an opening reception with live music, art activities by the Mobile Art Lab, and opening remarks from Durrett. The art installation will be open through November.

According to the Office of Arts, Break Water is a sculpture taking "inspiration from Alexandria’s waterfront being a place where natural forces and human activity intersect, often with profound consequences." Durrett also wanted the piece to represent the resilience and strength of Black communities during crises.

The centerpiece of the art, made from blackened wood, calls to mind the historic steamboat the River Queen, which existed from 1898 to 1911, when it was suddenly destroyed by a fire following a purchase by Black entrepreneur Lewis Jefferson. That centerpiece is surrounded by black sandbags. Beneath the sculpture, a ground mural of tangled ropes called "Life Lines" seeks to connect the artwork to Waterfront Park's architectural features.

The art piece results from significant research and material investigation by the artist. Durrett is a mixed-media artist who highlights overlooked histories in the form of public art, social practice, installation, painting, sculpture and design.

This is the seventh annual public art installation at Waterfront Park in the Office of Arts' Site See: New Views in Old Town series. The waterfront installations are among various locations throughout Alexandria with public art.

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