A LIVING MEMORIAL ON THE C. 1746 CUSTOM HOUSE LAWN
ORIGIN
Since early 2024, Washington College staff, students and community partners have been awarded two Public Art Across Maryland grants from the Maryland State Arts Council to launch inclusive planning towards major artwork(s) celebrating and honoring the full arc of four centuries of Black histories in the Chesapeake region on the c. 1746 Custom House lawn, both a sobering witness to the Middle Passage and an enduring symbol of survival, resilience and triumph. Underway is a transformative process that aims to usher pilgrimage spanning the Atlantic World and beyond.
Through authentic artwork(s) responding to the African Diaspora with integrity, the c.1746 Custom House lawn is being reclaimed and transformed into a living memorial, and a public space where intergenerational gatherings, mindful reflection, and cultural stewardship will flourish.
On August 15, 2025, dozens of community members gathered in Chestertown to participate in the LandMarked Project's Make Memory Move I performance that opened the 12th Annual Legacy Day and began Phase II of activating the c. 1746 Custom House lawn. Immerse yourself in Make Memory Move I here [awaiting a finalized public hyperlink from Raven Bishop's team].
VISION STATEMENT
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT HISTORICAL TIMELINE
Follow The Journey
REFLECTIONS ON RECLAIMING THE SITE
Over the past several years, historians at Washington College’s Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience have discovered far-reaching connections to the Middle Passage at the c. 1746 Custom House that affirm it is a place of substantial significance to regional—if not national—history. Building upon the success of Chesapeake Heartland: An African American Humanities Project, a diverse array of local memory keepers and creatives have been invited to reflect on how this community-led process is driving sustainable, justice-bearing capacity to depolarize inquiry, expand possibility and reconcile nuanced truths through creative expression.
Listen to their voices. Feel their answers to a calling that continues to set the Eastern Shore apart.
Wanda Boyer, Community Leader & Local Memory Keeper
Kent County
*Available soon on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube and the Chesapeake Heartland Digital Archive.
John Schratwieser, Kent Cultural Alliance Director
Kent County
*Available soon on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube and the Chesapeake Heartland Digital Archive.
Rev. Delvin Steward, Bethel A.M.E. Church of Chestertown & New Breed Co-Founder
Kent County
*Available soon on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube and the Chesapeake Heartland Digital Archive.
Dr. Mary McComas, Kent County Public Schools Superintendent
Kent County
*Available soon on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube and the Chesapeake Heartland Digital Archive.
Dr. Ben Tilghman, Chestertown Public Arts Committee Chair & Washington College Art and Art History Chair
Kent County
*Available soon on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube and the Chesapeake Heartland Digital Archive.
Yolanda Acree, MD State Arts Councilor
Caroline & Queen Anne's Counties
*Available soon on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube and the Chesapeake Heartland Digital Archive.
Ashley Chenault, Maryland Tourism Development Board & Descendant
Talbot County
*Available soon on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube and the Chesapeake Heartland Digital Archive.
Miriam Moran, Artivist & Entrepreneur
Dorchester County
*Available soon on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube and the Chesapeake Heartland Digital Archive.
D'Shawn Doughty, Eastern Shore Association of Municipalities & Salisbury City Council President
Wicomico County
*Available soon on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube and the Chesapeake Heartland Digital Archive.
Dr. Arlisha Norwood, University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Somerset County
*Available soon on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube and the Chesapeake Heartland Digital Archive.
Sharnell Tull, Pocomoke City Councilwoman & Artist
Worcester County
*Available soon on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube and the Chesapeake Heartland Digital Archive.
Ada Pinkston, Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture & Maryland Institute College of Art
Baltimore City
*Available soon on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube and the Chesapeake Heartland Digital Archive.
EXPLORE THE TRANSFORMATION
Helmed by Assistant Director of Educational Technology Raven Bishop, Washington College's Virtual Augmented Reality Digital Imaging Studio (VARDIS) is a pillar of the Clifton M. Miller Library, homebase of the Digital Scholarship in Museum Partnerships project and equips students with a variety of technologies from VR headsets, 360° cameras, MERGE cubes, 3D scanning equipment, object photo studios, document scanners, photo editing and AR/VR creation software and more. VARDIS staff and interns have been critical to the growth of Chesapeake Heartland. In January 2026, a temporary installation lining the black fence at 101 S. Water Street will expand on-site access to visitors in an active manner, through multi-sensory experiences and linguistic diversity. All are welcome in Chestertown to join in this free, self-guided experience and encouraged to contribute to the future of the process.
PLANNING COMMITTEE
A 10-person planning committee, which was expanded to include two advisors with deep expertise across mediums, with diverse disciplinary thought leadership and geographic representation to inform each phase has been focal to thoughtful disruption, shared authority, innovative co-creation, asset-based reimagining, and ethical placemaking: Jana Carter, Charles Sumner Post #25, Grand Army of the Republic; Prof. Arlisha Norwood, University of Maryland Eastern Shore; Kate Dowd, Chestertown Public Arts Committee; Christalyn Grandison '11; Ada Pinkston, Maryland Institute College of Art & Maryland Commission on African American History & Culture; Vince Leggett, Blacks of the Chesapeake Foundation; Matthew Jordan-Miller Kenyatta, Temple University Tyler School of Art & Architecture and Philadelphia Art Commission; Imani Black, Minorities in Aquaculture; Ashley Chenault, Maryland Tourism Development Board; DeLia Shoge, Kent County Public Schools; Jason Patterson, Washington College; and Jess Solomon, MSOD.
