Former Waterfront Park artwork being moved to permanent home at Braddock Road Metro station

Artwork formerly located at Waterfront Park and exploring the complex relationship between Alexandria’s economy and slavery is making a return: this time to a new permanent home at the Braddock Road Metro Station.

The artwork “Wrought, Knit, Labors, Legacies” by artist Olalekan Jeyifous opened in Waterfront Park in March 2020 and is inspired by “Alexandria’s rich and complicated industrial and merchant history.” The artwork was relocated to the Old Town Pool at 1609 Cameron Street, but the location was temporary until a more permanent location could be found, in part due to 2-5 years of construction planned at the Old Town Pool.

The artwork is composed of four metal profiles with iconography related to the four major industrial enterprises in Alexandria: flour, tobacco, railways and armory.

The artwork could be install in the parking lot just outside of the station. To facilitate the collaboration with WMATA to locate the artwork at a Metro station, the artwork is technically being gifted to Alexandria, which is in turn donating the artwork to WMATA on the condition that the art remain in the City of Alexandria limits and cannot be relocated without written approval.

Approval of the gift is scheduled for review at the Tuesday, July 2, meeting of the City Council.

The City of Alexandria is also commissioning Jeyifous to make a vertical version of the mural that was originally at Waterfront Park to be used on the side of the Braddock Road Metro station. The City will pay $5,000 for the mural and $12,000 for the artwork to be cleaned, repaired and transported to the new Braddock Road Metro station home.