I Was Here

269 West Main Street Second Floor
Lexington , Kentucky US
40507

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The I Was Here project began in 2016 as a set of emblematic Ancestor Spirit Portraits created by photographing contemporary African Americans as archetypal Ancestor Spirits. The portraits create a visual representation of our unacknowledged Nation Builders – imagery absent in America’s visual records. The Portraits form cohesive, ethereal images that convey the dignity of the African American individual and family – imagery mostly missing in America’s visual history. The “here” of I Was Here begins with an honest look at the history of place. Through a synthesis of the arts and technology, the project is an invitation to examine our history and bring a new understanding to the concept of Nation Building. Truly understanding our history is the gateway to creatively conceive how we can honor the Co-founders of our Country in a way that transforms how we see ourselves and each other. Through the blending of history, technology, humanities and the arts, the project explores the significance of memory, history, and ancestry. What I Was Here accomplishes with its public art and public history installations is a mindful, reverent, and powerful acknowledgment of American history; history that may be misunderstood, misinterpreted, ignored, or simply forgotten. The project invites as much as it prods visitors to allow this acknowledgment to hold public space and to accept the echoes layered into the project’s name, I Was Here. Because of the unique melding of the arts, architecture, history, and geography, the project has been awarded grants and honors from the American Association for State and Local History, National Endowment for the Arts, CODAworx, Kentucky Humanities, and the Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation, among others.