Work-in-Progress: Untitled

Wesley Clark is in the process of creating a 9.5’H x 26’L x 12’D interactive sculpture of 1/4″ slip-rolled steel with a marine grade finish. Both processes pay homage to the shipbuilding industry in Norfolk, VA.
A lyrical, super structure design, emblematic of river or tidal currents, is a metaphor of the generations of residents moving with the tides in and around Norfolk. An arch will provide both a viewport to the surrounding buildings and landscape, while upholding an interactive, processional experience.
Historic imagery painted on each side will appear emerging from the sculpture at different angles and depict:
🔸Evelyn Thomas Butts, Norfolk civil rights activist and Democratic party leader, who challenged the pole tax and fought to help dismantle barriers to voting across VA.
🔹Ella Baker, who helped build the infrastructure for the Norfolk NAACP and helped empower working-class citizens to take charge of neighborhood struggles.
🔸Plummer Barnard Young Senior, who renamed the Gideon Lodge Journal to the Norfolk Journal and Guide, which became the largest selling black newspaper in the south + one of the most influential black papers in the US.
🔹Ohef Sholom Temple, Norfolk’s oldest and largest Jewish congregation.
🔸Laura E. Davis Titus, educator and civic leader who founded the Phyllis Wheatley YWCA, the 1st colored YWCA in America dated from 1875.