Let Ivy City Bloom
Botanical Installation, 2021
For “Let Ivy City Bloom,” we installed a 500 square foot protest park at the foot of the Alexander Crummell School in Ivy City. Ivy City is an historically Black neighborhood in Northeast DC that is being rapidly gentrified after years of government disinvestment. The botanical installation featured live grass, benches, flowers, and plants. It was the centerpiece in a neighborhood block party organized by community members to ensure that their need for green space (Ivy City is a heat island) would be top-of-mind as DC Mayor Muriel Bowser finalized and announced her Fiscal Year 2022 Budget and Financial Plan.
This botanical installation is the first in a series by artist Adele Yiseol Kenworthy. The Floralscapes series aims to center art as the catalyst for change, express community power, and reject gentrification and displacement.
Artist: Adele Yiseol Kenworthy
Community Partners: Empower DC, Friends of Crummell School
Floral Installation and Design: Sweet Root Village
Creative Consultant: Batya Feldman
Creative Arts Coordinator: Jordana Rubenstein-Edberg