PUBLIC ART PROPOSAL

 

The Nicholson Project and Hamiltonian Artists, two arts organizations dedicated to fostering emerging and mid-career artists, will present a sweeping three-month city-wide exhibition, I’ll meet you there. Presented in partnership with the Goethe-Institut Washington, and Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.), this project will unfolds across Washington, D.C. utilizing a traveling 20-foot video billboard truck that transforms the city itself into a moving gallery.

Title: I’ll meet you there, 2027

DC-based Artists: Shaunté Gates, Madyha J. Leghari, and Maria Luz Bravo
Berlin-based Artists: Hajnal Nemeth, Pinar Ögrenci, and Isaac Chong Wai

Dates: April 3 - June 30, 2027

Project Partners: The Nicholson Project, Hamiltonian Artists, Goethe-Institut Washington, and Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.).

Support this project:
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Exhibition Description:
The six artists selected for this iteration of I’ll meet you there, consider the limitations of socially imposed boundaries, whether it be language, color, or geography. Building on the first presentation featuring four locally raised DC-area artists, this follow-up exhibition brings together three DC-based and three Berlin-based artists. These six artists each carry roots in cities shaped by layers of history, politics, and cultural life. DC-based artists Shaunté Gates (b. Washington, DC), Madyha J. Leghari (b. Lahore), and Maria Luz Bravo (b. Mexico City), and Berlin-based artists Hajnal Nemeth (b. Komárom, Hungary), Pinar Ögrenci (b. Van, Turkey), and Isaac Chong Wai (b. Hong Kong). These cities function as microcosms that concentrate the diversity, tensions, and contradictions of the broader world. Residents of such cities often live amid heightened visibility and psychological complexity, with the forces of history and politics playing out in intimate proximity.

The three DC-based artists will create brand new video work for this exhibition. The three Berlin-based videos will be sourced from Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.)’s collection. Founded in 1971 as an artists' initiative, the Video-Forum of Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.) is the oldest and, with over 1,700 works, one of the biggest public video art collections in Germany and Europe.

The exhibition title is drawn from a line in “A Great Wagon” by the 13th-century poet Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks: “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.” The verse gestures toward a space of encounter—one that exists beyond binaries and certainty, rooted instead in openness and shared humanity. That spirit animates this project.

Project Components:
Three 4-week cycles (April, May, and June), each cycle will feature two videos (one DC artist and one Berlin artist)

    • April 3rd - 30th, 2027

    • May 1st - 28th, 2027

    • May 29th - June 25th, 2027

  • Presented via a 20 ft. LED Video Billboard Truck (video with sound) will cover the entirety of Washington, DC road-ways, including all four quadrants and all eight wards of Washington, DC.

  • Each day the truck will officially start at The Nicholson Project (SE) and end at Hamiltonian Artists (NW).

  • Trucks will run 3 days per week, eight hours each day =  96 hours per truck/artist

  • There will be dedicated stops at DCPL in each quadrant (one DCPL stop per week, 12 libraries total)

  • Other dedicated stops throughout DC will be arranged (i.e. museums, cultural centers, businesses, schools, etc)

  • Opening Week: Truck Launch Dedication and Celebration Event

  • Closing Event: Film Screening of all six films where the Berlin-based artists will travel to DC for an artist panel discussion with all six artists.

A digital companion experience via the Bloomberg Connects app will provide behind-the-scenes content, artist interviews, and interpretive materials, expanding access beyond physical locations.

Due to the transient nature of this project there is no physical installation in an one ANC, we did send the project proposal to ANC7B (The Nicholson Project) and ANC 1B (Hamiltonian Artists) executive committees so that they could make constituents aware of the project and provide letters of support. If you have any questions, concerns, or support that you want to share with the ANC Commissions, you can do so by emailing: ANC 7B Commissioner and Vice-Chair John Adams: 7B01@anc.dc.gov, or ANC 1B Commissioner Miguel Trindade Deramo at 1B06@anc.dc.gov.

Questions?
Contact Allison Nance at allison@thenicholsonproject.org​
or Lily Siegel at lily@hamiltonianartists.org