Client: Downtown Washington, DC Business Improvement District

Overview

Portraits of Nine Prominent Women in Washington, DC History features portraits of nine prominent women who helped to shape the history of Washington. There are four African American and five Caucasian Women portrayed on the Downtown BID Callboxes. The Downtown BID Callboxes, are located in Northwest, Washington, DC. east of the White House. The artwork honors the 100th Anniversary of the Woman’s Suffrage in 2020. Artwork depicting nine extraordinary woman who worked, lived and or were associated with the locations of the callboxes. http://www.charlesbergenstudios.com/downtown-bid-callboxes

Goals

The project itself was commissioned artwork. We restored nine no longer used cast iron callboxes, removed the lead paint and repainted them new colors that related to the work and organizations of these nine women. Text was stenciled on the base of the call boxes describing their achievements.On the majority of the callboxes waterjet cut artwork that symbolizes or depicts one of their achievements or great events in their lives is placed.

Process

This was my second set of callbox artworks so I was familiar with the process. Within the bounds of the project and what had been approved by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and the DC Office of Historic Preservation I tried to give the participating artists as much artistic freedom as possible.

Additional Information

Very challenging but very rewarding. The Downtown Washington, DC BID is a great client to work with. Charles Bergen Studios worked with Aaron Rogers, Mara Cherkasky, Artists Darian Lassiter, Nathan Cousins, Mathew Andrews, Tsahai Pettiford, Amber Logan, Hakeem Olayinka, Aaron Rogers, Brandon, Bailey, Elsabe Dixon, Colby Johnson, Sanjaya Wilson and George Tkabladze.to design this artwork. The fabricators and installer are listed below in the Project Team section.