LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Black Louisvillians who have made an impact on the city’s history and community will be honored with a new public art installation near downtown.
The (Un)Known Project will unveil “In Our Elders’ Footprints”, on June 8 which will pay tribute to activists, elders to civil rights leaders and artists.
The art features footprints from Senator Gerald Neal, Mattie Jones, Ed and Bernadette Hamilton, Ken Clay, Diane Porter and others.
Hannah Drake and Josh Miller, who co-founded and lead artists on the project, said the art represents the interconnection between past, present and future.
“These Black leaders have helped shaped the community, and this space honors their contributions while referencing the generations who have come before, including enslaved and free Black people. We invite people to come and to walk in their footprints, honor their legacy, and consider how it shapes our shared future,” Drake and Miller said in a news release.
Jones, who has been a pillar for social justice and civil rights in Louisville for more than seven decades, believes future generations should know every aspect of their history including the important contributions of African Americans in the United States.
“That has not been taught to our young folks, to motivate them to realize where they came from. Because if they are not taught and they don’t know where they came from, they sure can’t find the way to where they are going.”
The “In Our Elders’ Footprints” will be located between 9th and 10th Street along the Louisville Riverwalk just across from (Un)Known Project’s “On the Banks of Freedom”, a monument honoring forgotten slaves. The monument was debuted during the Juneteenth holiday in 2021.
The official unveiling of the project will take place on June 8 at 11 a.m.
It’s free to attend but requested that you RSVP.
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