New Eastern Shore Temporary Public Art Installation Celebrating Four Centuries of African American Histories Launched in Chestertown

State, Regional and Local Leaders Join to Announce the Latest Phase of Nine-County Placemaking Effort to Create a Necessary Gathering Place of National Significance

Earlier this month, leading up to Juneteenth and Independence Day, the Maryland Commission on Public Art convened on Maryland’s Eastern Shore for its June Quarterly Meeting and the statewide launch of a temporary installation at the circa 1746 Custom House along the Chester River in Kent County.

The Washington College Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience hosted the distinguished body of State champions, which included the outgoing and incoming Commission chairs and representatives from the Maryland Department of Commerce, Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC), Maryland State Archives and Maryland Historical Trust. The public meeting and installation launch at 101 S. Water Street were co-facilitated by MSAC Public Art Program Director C. Ryan Patterson and Starr Center Deputy Director Jaelon T. Moaney.

Chestertown Mayor Meghan Efland delivered an official welcome to the Kent County municipal seat and Kent Cultural Alliance Deputy Director Hester Sachse similarly delivered a welcome to the Chestertown Arts & Entertainment District. Pat Nugent, the Thomas V. Mike Miller Director of Civic Engagement at Washington College, underscored multiple recent Maryland Department of Commerce investments.

Building on the foundation of Chesapeake Heartland: An African American Humanities Project, Washington College staff, students and community partners have been awarded two MSAC Public Art Across Maryland grants since early 2024 to realize inclusive planning towards major artwork(s) celebrating and honoring the full arc of four centuries of Black histories in the Chesapeake region on the Custom House lawn, which endures as both a sobering witness to the Middle Passage and an especially inspiring symbol of resistance, resilience and healing.

“What makes this project so meaningful is its commitment to telling a more complete story, one that honors the full range of people and experiences that have shaped this region. That perspective strengthens not just Chestertown, but the entire Chesapeake,” said Mayor Efland.

Underway is a reparative placemaking process that aims to usher intergenerational memory and pilgrimage spanning the Atlantic World through a former Royal Port of Entry, one whose descendant-led innovations anchored a statewide Maryland Public Television workshop this past March with authenticity, ground an archeology field school and have even garnered support from the 11th President and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation Brent Leggs.

Ada Pinkston, Maryland Commission on African American History & Culture appointee and founder of LandMarked: Make Memory Move, attended the June meeting and pointed out to participants that her organization's performance last year in the same space is now available to more people through the new installation.

“Last year, a new iteration of 'Landmarked: Make Memory Move' took place on this lawn with support from the Chesapeake Heartland Digital Archive. You can experience a version of that performance through this virtual reality installation. Thank you to Jaelon Moaney for the invitation, and thank you to the entire Starr Center staff,” Pinkston said. “I am honored to be part of the reckoning taking place on this hallowed ground, and I look forward to it becoming a site where the legacy of African American people in this country is preserved and uplifted.”

To experience the free, self-guided temporary installation developed by Washington College’s Director of Educational Technology Raven Bishop and Virtual Augmented Reality Digital Imaging Studio (VARDIS) interns at the foot of High Street inside the back fence, visitors only need a smartphone to access immersive digital assets in over 120 languages. Once on site, the waist-level Chesapeake Heartland blue markers present a sharp contrast to the evolving cultural landscape and invite the public in to reimagine creative expression at one of the 77 National Historic Landmarks in Maryland.

Visitors to Chestertown who come to see the Custom House site can also take a walking tour of Chestertown’s public art collection. Following formal adjournment of the June Maryland Commission on Public Art meeting, Chestertown Public Arts Committee Chair and Washington College Art + Art History Department Chair Ben Tilghman led the group on the tour, concluding at the Raimond Cultural Center, where the 2026 Kent Cultural Alliance Artists in Residence “HISTORY” exhibit was displayed featuring works by Bennet Cafarelli, Mecca Lewis, and Jonna McKone.

MD250 Commission and local semiquincentennial alignments have also increased Upper Shore, Mid-Shore and Lower Shore awareness. In addition, progress updates and public event notices are regularly aired on stations such as 90.5 WKHS, 91.7 WHCP, 94.3 WINX and 96.7 WCEI. 

“As an Eastern Shore native, artist, community historian, and councilor, the public art project being developed by the Starr Center stirs me with joy and pride. The intentionality and engagement with the community—through public art field trips, lectures, visioning sessions, interviews, and bringing the site alive through performance—assures me that the sacredness of the souls who passed through the Custom House will be honored appropriately and imaginatively. I look forward to experiencing the permanent installation not just as a site of gathering and reflection of local and regional significance, but as a national example of how to honor the legacy of the enslaved and their descendants and engage living monuments” said Yolanda Acree, who serves as a Chesapeake Heartland Interpretive Planning Committee member and an Eastern Shore-based Maryland State Arts Councilor.

Several hundred Maryland Department of Service and Civic Innovation Class 3 members of the Maryland Corps/Service Year Option Program visited Chestertown on January 8, 2026. As part of the annual All Corps event, members from every county in Maryland participated in a session to chart out a design for the temporary installation on the lawn. The College’s first-ever Black Solidarity Conference delegation and a Descendant Scholar are also among the thought partners reimagining the 2/3-acre parcel into a public space for mindfulness, joy and reclamation.

With additional funding, next steps include publishing a nationwide request for qualifications developed during Phase Two, forming a balanced jury to evaluate submissions, and inviting creatives to the Eastern Shore for public charettes ahead of final commission selections.

To learn more about and contribute to future phases, register for the Starr Center newsletter.

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About the Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience

One of three centers of excellence at Washington College, the Starr Center mission is to explore the American experience in all its diversity and complexity, seeks creative approaches to illuminating the past, and inspires thoughtful conversation informed by history. The Center offers students dynamic opportunities for hands-on learning and off-campus experiences unequaled at other small liberal arts schools. Celebrating 25 years of impact, the Center anchors an array of innovative public history projects; prizes and fellowships; staff and students; scholarships and internships; and partnerships with some of America’s leading cultural institutions.

About Washington College

Washington College, Maryland's premier liberal arts college, enrolls approximately 1,000 undergraduates from more than 39 states and territories and 23 nations. Washington is known for outstanding academics in more than 50 academic programs. With an emphasis on experiential learning opportunities across the disciplines, ranging from internships and research to international study and civic engagement, Washington prepares students for successful careers and lives after graduation. The College is home to nationally recognized academic centers in the environment, history, and writing as well as the 5,000-acre River and Field Campus, which provides unique research opportunities for students and faculty. Additionally, the recently launched Warehime School of Business at Washington College is redefining business education by blending strategy and economics with a global liberal arts perspective. Launching this fall, Warehime empowers bold thinkers to lead across industries through a curriculum rooted in purpose, world languages, and hands-on experience. 

About the Chestertown Public Arts Committee

To promote and implement the installation of artwork in public places for the enrichment of the community. The Chestertown Public Arts Committee consists of experts and enthusiasts who are excited to enrich their community with art. Members are appointed by the Town Council to three-year terms, renewable twice. Public meetings are held in Town Hall at 4 p.m. on the second Tuesday of every month. 

About the Kent Cultural Alliance

The Kent Cultural Alliance is a pillar of the Chestertown Arts and Entertainment District that puts the arts to work creating opportunities for engagement, education, and connection across Kent County—ensuring that all of Kent County’s communities have access to transformational arts programs to celebrate our shared humanity.