The Summer I Built a Church: Creating A Portrait of the Emanuel AME Church of Charleston in Porcelain
John Aaron
I was commissioned this past summer to create a memorial tribute to the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC and the Emanuel 9. Made of glazed porcelain and mixed media, it is 5'4" x 3'8" x 6". I spent 500+ hours in the creation of this piece. In the past, I had spent time in Charleston and created architectural portraits in clay of its buildings and used that art to raise funds for non-profit causes in the city. The purpose of this project is to pay tribute to the Fallen, and to help provide what comfort and healing can be gained from a monument such as this. The original timing to deliver the art was waylaid by Hurricane Irma's 4 foot storm surge; which unfortunately, wiped out the Low Country Freedom Reigns Festival's fundraising events. The organization had commissioned this project; and hard hit by the storm, had to step back financially from their final support to complete the delivery and final payment. The goal now is to deliver the work to the Church for display for a period of time and possibly to an east coast African American History Museum this fall.