Harvard University Committee on the Arts (HUCA) commissioned this public artwork by 2021-2022 Loeb/ArtLab artist-in-residence Jordan Weber.
Jordan Weber shares, “This work intends to create a moveable, communal space for decompression to regain strength for our Black, Brown, and Indigenous existence at Harvard University. A space built specifically for us. I used black obsidian, a stone traditionally used to shield negative energy, protect the body, or practice food sovereignty as seen in pre-colonial Americas. I ask you to sit together or as a whatever singularity, in full consciousness of life breath.”
This public artwork responds to the twin pandemics of 2020: COVID-19 and racial injustice. The sculpture pays tribute to Amanda Gorman, the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history and 2020 cum laude graduate of Harvard College. Weber’s sculpture contains an excerpt from “The Hill We Climb,” a poem written by Gorman for the 2021 Inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden.
This public artwork was commissioned with support from Harvard University Committee on the Arts (HUCA) and was made possible with the support of the Johnson-Kulukundis Family President’s Fund for the Arts.
Read more about this commission in The Harvard Gazette:
A Look Behind the Scenes: Six commissions underscore power and prominence of arts on campus
The Art of the Real: Harvard Transforms the Role of Art on Campus