— The Hon. Patricia D. McDow, former Majority Leader of Yonkers City Council, announced the grand opening of the Enslaved Africans’ Rain Garden (EARG) on Friday, June 17th, 11:30 AM, at 20 Water Grant Street, Yonkers, NY.
Positioned along the Hudson Riverbank, the Enslaved Africans’ Rain Garden commemorates in sculpture countless Africans who lived in servitude at Yonkers’ Philipse Manor Hall from the 1600s through 1800s. The EARG boasts five life-sized bronze creations by acclaimed artist Vinnie Bagwell in a butterfly-pollinating setting.
A longtime resident knowing its history of enslavement, McDow vowed to not leave Yonkers’ government without ensuring an indelible mark of enlightenment for future generations. Ms. McDow declared, “One hundred-fifty years after emancipation: The fact that our nation has built monuments to almost every U.S. historical event of significance while neglecting slavery negates the contributions of millions of enslaved people to our national heritage. They deserve the full respect of having their dignity restored. The strongest aspect of the Enslaved Africans’ Rain Garden Initiative is that it begins to address reciprocity by giving a voice to the previously unheard via accessible art in a public place.” In 2009, the then-Majority Leader McDow promptly commissioned Bagwell to create public art to exist in the downtown waterfront district.
Patricia McDow, President of EARG, Inc.’s Board of Directors, states, “It’s been an exhilarating, transformative, 13-year birthing process that I couldn’t abandon. Commissioning artist-extraordinaire Vinnie Bagwell was one of the most important decrees issued during my tenure with the Yonkers City Council. Yonkers will be forever educationally enriched by EARG’s existence.”
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Enslaved Africans’ Rain Garden, Inc. is a non-profit 501.c.3 arts organization created to promote public-art that celebrates the history of enslaved Africans, inspire future artists, and educate and empower the community-at-large. For visuals and audio of each sculpture’s imaginary past, scan the QR code
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