Semifinalists selected for Ed Johnson memorial

Pictured is the headstone of Ed Johnson {CQ}, who was lynched on the Walnut Street Bridge in 1906, on Tuesday, May 29, 2012. Pleasant Garden cemetery, a historically black cemetery, has been seemingly neglected for decades, despite the occasional surge of community interest. David Young {CQ}, a resident of the Ridgeside community whose home backs onto the cemetery property, has been fighting the underbrush and rampant foliage growth for three decades.
Pictured is the headstone of Ed Johnson {CQ}, who was lynched on the Walnut Street Bridge in 1906, on Tuesday, May 29, 2012. Pleasant Garden cemetery, a historically black cemetery, has been seemingly neglected for decades, despite the occasional surge of community interest. David Young {CQ}, a resident of the Ridgeside community whose home backs onto the cemetery property, has been fighting the underbrush and rampant foliage growth for three decades.

Three semifinalist teams have been chosen to submit design concepts for the Ed Johnson memorial at the south end of the Walnut Street Bridge.

"The permanent memorial will commemorate the life of Ed Johnson, honor the courageous work of his attorneys and recognize the resulting United States Supreme Court case," according to a news release from the Ed Johnson Project.

Johnson, a black man, was hanged on the Walnut Street Bridge more than a century ago after he was falsely accused of rape. His trial changed the course of civil-rights laws in the country.

The semifinalist teams are:

-Rodney Leon, of Rodney Leon Architects; artist Ai Qiu Hopen; and Elizabeth Kennedy, of Elizabeth Kennedy Landscape Architect

-NBW Landscape Architects and Lord Cultural Resources

-Jerome Meadows, of Meadowlark Studio.

"The teams have designed and created outstanding public art, commemorative sites and memorials across the country," according to the news release. "Their previous work includes the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania; the African Burial Ground Memorial in New York; the Gate of Freedom in Birmingham; and the African Burying Ground and Memorial Park in New Hampshire."

The semifinalists were chosen from 45 submissions, with artist teams from three continents and more than a dozen states.

A selection committee of Chattanooga citizens nominated by Public Art Chattanooga and the Ed Johnson Committee reviewed all the entries and made the selections. The selection committee was comprised of group of professionals, artists and community representatives in an effort to provide a range of perspectives.

"The selection panel chose three outstanding teams," said Katelyn Kirnie, director of Public Art Chattanooga. "With their combined track record of public projects, I am confident in their ability to design an integrated artwork and public space that is both celebrated as part of the urban fabric of our downtown and honored as a place of historical significance and remembrance."

The semifinalist teams will visit Chattanooga this fall to learn more about the community and the project. During this visit, the public will have opportunities to meet and interact with the teams. The teams will then create design concepts, and a finalist will be chosen early in 2018.

"This memorial becomes a place where healing can happen and a place where reconciliation can happen and a place where people can come and share their stories about how they are working toward race relations in Chattanooga," said LaFrederick Thirkill, co-chair of the Ed Johnson Project.

To learn more about the teams and to see their previous work, visit www.edjohnsonproject.com/semi-finalist-teams/.

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