ALEXANDRIA, VA-A new waterfront art project is in the works, and early designs have a familiar theme: flooding. “Break Water” by Nekisha Durrett will be the seventh installation at Waterfront Park. It will be on view from March to November 2025. ALX Now first reported the news.
The Commission for the Arts approved the project in a unanimous vote. At a presentation last evening, the group showed various computer-generated images of how the project will look on the waterfront.
The centerpiece of the installation is a crafted steamboat wheel meant to represent the sidewheel from the River Queen. The vessel was commissioned for service in the Civil War and later became a passenger ferry. It was a recreational ship in the early 20th century. Its history will be reflected in the piece, with a shuffleboard court or other games of that time on a mural nearby.
Sandbags, real and/or fake, will support the wheel, and they could feature a number of symbolic images. These have multiple meanings, including preparation prior to flooding in this city and the sandbags covering the Duc de Richelieu Monument in Odessa, Ukraine, to prevent the landmark from being destroyed.
