Present Absence Final Design

 

Present Absence

Design Team Agenda

March 8, 2021

I. Qualities of the new Present Absence Site

II. Site Photos

III. Poems in progress by Raven Golston, Present Absence Poet

IV Renderings by Owens Daniels of 5-part mural

V. Supplemental Elements

VI. Steps ahead

I. After a long hiatus, we are excitedly bringing the team back together to complete final design of the mural about Kate Bitting Reynolds Memorial Hospital-- "Katie B."-- past, present, and future, created by lead artist Owens Daniels and the Present Absence Team. As most of you know, the mural was originally designed for the Winston Mutual Life Building, then for Sunrise Tower, and, we think, has now found its most meaningful home on the Walter Marshall Building, the second home of Katherine Bitting Reynolds Memorial Hospital, now home of the Department of Social Services. The building opened in 1969 as the state-of-the-art second location for the hospital, but closed after only three years upon integration of hospitals in Winston Salem.  The building faces the Malloy-Jordan Heritage Center, a branch of our public library system, which is named for two Katie B. doctors. The social services building is now named after a long time Forsyth County Commissioner, civil rights activist, NAACP leader, and WSFC Board of Education member. It's also a beautiful site for a mural that offers history of health excellence and health equity, and important members of our community who trained and worked at "Katie B."
II. Mural Visibility
Located on the east side of the Walter Marshall Building,  the mural will face Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, and is clearly visible from the Malloy-Jordan Heritage Center and Sunrise Towers.

approach from east

from Malloy Jordan Heritage Center

view from on-street parking

Malloy Jordan Heritage Center

III. Poetry by Raven Golston that will provide the source of words inside the murals Note: you can hear Raven reading "Forget-me-not" at the Present Absence website, here.

Forget-me-not

Dedicated to Kate Bitting Reynolds

This is a forget me not,

I am worthy of being remembered in the many forms I came.

So remember the mark I left and draw another, and one more after that. 

Frame my picture because my children and my children’s children’s children need to know 

To remember the soils that which the flower blooms 

The hands that sculpt the clay,

Play the rhythm of time and you’ll find exactly what I say,

See the notes? 

I leave those as bread crumbs 

To show you your people made a way.

Do not fold the corners of the pieces that shape you,

Uncrease the corners to discover the different shapes the same. A same that similarly makes you.

This is a forget me not,

Life carries on through you,

And one day you will say your forget me nots too.

To say, I am worthy of being remembered in the many forms I came. 

So remember the mark I left and draw another, and one more after that. 

Narrative

It’s oral narratives, it’s framing pictures, it’s fragment pieces that collectively express its science, its humanities, it’s arts, it’s mathematics, it’s symphonies---

It’s justice in words and illustration that ring like the bass in a cello despite the softness of an aging voice as the stringing notes release the caged birds, 

It’s thriving cities, and the song doesn’t come free though in unison as it connects and remembers, the narratives of an expansive community are non monolithic in location

Though each sounding song is familiar, 

as ones’ Jefferson street is another’s East and 5th built up essentially like water to quench the missing, hemming the cracks of the soils through creation, through driven dedication, outseeks and groupings, gathering the community, proud to be warriors for seeds that harvest full,

There is a clinging to the bosom of knowledge never to be full--- 

as it’s oral narratives, it’s framing pictures, it’s fragment pieces that collectively express: it’s science, it’s humanities, it’s arts, it’s mathematics, it’s symphonies, are repeated rhythm and cadence;

 It’s justice that rings like the bass of a cello despite the softness of an aging voice and the stringing notes then release the caged birds. 

IV. Mural Mockups by Owens Daniels

Depiction of work on Walter Murray Building. Each panel will be   approximately  9' x 15',printed on vinyl, and only requires one screw every 8 feet to install. 

Owens Daniels,  Jackie Howell proto 2021

Owens Daniels, Portrait of Dr. Betty Alexander, 2021

Owens Daniels, Portrait of Ms. Gloria Millner

Owens Daniels, Jesse Watson, 2021

V. Supplemental Elements: The murals of Present Absence grow out of the research and design of a committee of 35 artists, community leaders, scholars, students and archivists. You can learn more about our team at the Present Absence team page, here. The mural conveys the power and impact of "Katie B" on Winston Salem, and we hope that it will capture the community's interest in learning more. Further materials will be available via the website (web address and square code will be visible on site), posters placed throughout the community, tabling at Juneteenth, hopefully connections at Malloy-Jordan heritage center, at the Winston Salem African American Archive, and via social media.

VI. Steps ahead: during April, May, and Jun, the team will hold Community engagement meetings to design the opening celebrations (tentatively planned for Juneteenth), final design meeting during April, printing and installation in May, and gatherings for celebration during June (as well as during the Katie B reunions in future. We welcome participants from the Department of Social Services and County during this important stage of the project.