The Four Cornerstones

  • “Four Cornerstones” uses a sculptural relief to present the empowering activist spirit throughout Weeksville history.
  • To explore Weeksville roots, the teen created collages using African, slavery, abolitionist, and civil rights imagery.
  • The artists use clay to make masks in order to practice the technique needed to create the reliefs.
  • A draft of a section of the relief shows the importance of press in spreading the voices of freedmen.
  • Transferring the rough draft from paper to this material is an important step.
  • The sophisticated result of the TEMA team’s work honors the bravery of the influential women and men featured.

Project Description

Through Groundswell’s Teen Empowerment Mural Apprenticeship (TEMA) program, youth created a series of public sculptural reliefs for Weeksville Houses in Brooklyn. Weeksville is a neighborhood founded by black freedman after the abolition of slavery in New York City. “The Four Cornerstones” represents the activist spirit of Weeksville residents past and present and consists of four permanently installed sculptural reliefs illustrating different aspects of civic involvement. The youth artists, a group of high school students from Weeksville, researched community history and learned elements of drawing and design. They were introduced to the technique of creating sculptural reliefs with Winterstone, a durable synthetic material that has a patina similar in appearance to metals. The reliefs feature portraits of several important community leaders, including Dr. Susan Smith McKinney Steward, the first Black woman doctor in New York; Maritcha Lyons, a prominent civil rights leader and educator; and Henry Highland Garnet, a leading abolitionist.

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Project Info

Location: 447 Kingsborough 4th Walk Brooklyn, NY 11233

Fun Facts

Fun Fact
Dr. Susan Smith McKinney Steward, the first Black woman doctor in New York, was the seventh of ten children.
Research
The mission of the Weeksville Heritage Center is to promote an appreciation of the African American legacy in Brooklyn and beyond, and to foster community empowerment through Weeksville’s history.
Quote
“I, but sixteen years old, made my maiden speech and, in a trembling voice pled for the opening of the door of opportunity” - Maritcha Lyons, reflecting on her testimony to Rhode Island State Legislature. She won the right to attend public school.