“If we can truly remember, they will not forget.” Miller Williams, “Of History and Hope”
“If we can truly remember, they will not forget.” From Miller Williams’ poem, “Of History and Hope”
University of Central Florida (UCF Downtown)
Orlando, FL
2020
“If we can truly remember, they will not forget” is a glass curtain wall installed at the entrance to the Florida Blue Parramore Room on the new UCF downtown campus. The campus is located in the area where the Black community called Parramore used to be. The overall size of the art glass is 11½’h x 17’w x ½”d.
The decimation of Parramore began in 1938 and never really stopped – urban renewal, highway construction, etc. I did a lot of research and worked with many people from the community. My design honors the past and celebrates peoples’ determination to make a good life for themselves and their families, despite discrimination and adversity.
The design includes historic and contemporary photos, quotes from residents, excerpts from spoken word poetry written by local young people, Sanborn maps of the area as it was in 1956, listings from the 1960 Orlando Negro Chamber of Commerce booklet, and local plants from when the area was primarily a cypress swamp.
This project involved a great deal of work with and support from the community, for which I am very grateful.
The panels are made out of tempered and laminated float glass with fired in pigments. Fabrication by Peters Glasmalerei Studios.