Commissioned by the City of Virginia Beach Office of Cultural Affairs and in partnership with the African American Cultural Center (AACC) of Virginia Beach to create a public art piece on the future site of the AACC, Portraits from a Place of Grace pays tribute to Virginia Beach’s historic African American neighborhoods and their residents.

Representing a broad range of residents from the 14 historically targeted Black neighborhoods in Virginia Beach, we built an organizing platform with leaders in the community to identify the powerful stories that connect these otherwise disparate neighborhoods. That platform and connectivity remains in place beyond the utility of the project, itself. At the conclusion of our time in Virginia Beach, we left an ADA-compliant public monument for reflection, a library of photographs and oral histories from the Black folks we had the great fortune to interview, we provided an example of how Black people can feel a sense of welcome in traditionally exclusive art spaces, and we left with something pretty neat: at his last visit to Virginia Beach, an African ceremony was held and Richard was made an honorary lifetime member of the community!

portraitsofgrace.us