“The proposal is a multimedia installation entitled "To Walk Among Them," a living monument for the National Mall and the people of the world. For this example, Jane De Decker's original sculpture "Every Word We Utter" stands at the head of an enormous sunflower-tiled reflection pool. The tiles are paid for by the world's children, one dollar, one tile, one permanent place. Thirty to fifty life-size bronze figures of women from across history appear to wade through the water, each cast by sculptors of all ages, selected by application. When augmented reality (AR) is accessed on visitors' cellphones and devices and held up towards a sculpture, visitors are given the story of the individual and their place in the history of women's suffrage. Step by step, story by story, the visitor forms a mental and emotional tapestry of the work, services, and sacrifice of these women. As the visitor moves towards the main sculpture, the narrative is complete, and now is the time for healing. As they round the second half of the pool, the new visual is a virtual, endless, circular waterfall. The roar of the water is supported by soft healing music. In silence or out loud, people may release all that they have been holding. This catharsis is supported by the figures in the water now being undefined, raw clay shapes, ready to take form through the visitor's own creation and imagination. Visitors may stay as long as they wish. The grand finale is a slope rising toward three massive gold and silver rings of sisterhood, standing upright. Moving through them is symbolic of the release of the past bonds of destruction. Having walked through the rings, visitors may now look back through them and capture the whole panorama of the past. Beyond the rings, three paths lead into the most beautiful gardens, each telling a different story through the flora selected. To enhance the experience, AR can be overlaid on the gardens, adding the natural sounds of the fauna of the world, depending on the path chosen. Visitors may travel each path and use this time to complete their journey of renewal. The important focus of this monument is the world's children. The vision is to make the monument and its experience accessible to every school and family on earth. This is the first monument on the National Mall dedicated to women, designed to grow, heal, and change with every generation, carrying the collective wisdom, heart, and creativity of the world in one place. Reality juxtaposed with augmented reality is already well-established in Washington's galleries and monuments. This installation will continue to put D.C. at the leading edge of a global social and technological movement. The powerful message is: We Are Healed. Grateful. Brave. Called forward by every person who refused to be silenced.”
The women who were never silent, only unheard. Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Ida B. Wells, Alice Paul, Lucretia Mott, and the countless women beside them whose names history did not keep. The child who has one dollar and deserves a permanent place in history. This installation and monument carries the weight of every voice that was dismissed, diminished, or simply not recorded. One luminous idea among the many hands, traditions, and stories that will bring it to life, because we are all American and all part of the world. This monument will call to every level of society and every kind of maker. The bronze sculptor and the musician. The digital artist and the visionary. The master tile craftsperson and the landscaper who knows which rock and which plant carries the memory of a place. If you feel called, you apply. There is something here to tug at every heart. And always, beneath it all, the suffragists themselves, who were called forward by nothing more than the refusal to be silenced.
You’re invited to inspire America’s newest landmark. We want to hear from YOU! Contribute your ideas today and have a voice in the design of the Women's Suffrage National Monument.
