Tacoma artist Christopher Paul Jordan has been selected to create a centerpiece artwork for the AIDS Memorial Pathway project on Capitol Hill in Seattle. The artwork will be sited in a central plaza above the Sound Transit Capitol Hill link light rail station, surrounded by new multi-story residential buildings currently under construction.
Jordan, who integrates virtual and physical public space to form infrastructures for dialogue and self-determination among dislocated people, was selected for his particular focus and outstanding leadership in community engagement practices in the field of public art, and his demonstrated commitment to the values and identity of The AIDS Memorial Pathway Project. Jordan’s artwork will be a key feature in the plaza, symbolizing the lives and achievements of lost individuals that need to be acknowledged and celebrated publicly as a way to illuminate and fill the gap of their absence.
The artwork will be grounded in the themes developed by Horatio Law, Lead Artist for The AMP: AIDS Memorial Pathway. As lead artist, Law collaborated with a design team of developers, architects, landscape architects, community members, technology artists/consultants and others to develop, plan, and scope artworks and art concepts for a community-driven memorial project honoring the impact of the AIDS epidemic on Seattle and King County.
Jordan’s installations and public projects have been implemented internationally including Trinidad and Tobago, Taiwan, and Mexico. In addition, his 7,000 square foot panoramic mural from #COLORED2017 is now buried into the walls of the Carpenter’s Union Building in Tacoma where it can only be rediscovered through demolition.
