Art Remediating Campus Histories

What is The ARCH Project?

VIDEO: Learn about The ARCH Project's purpose and process.

Project Overview

“Don’t Forget to Remember (Me)” is a commissioned monument at 91��˶�� that responds to the legacy of exclusionary practices on the campus. Durrett’s artwork is the culmination of 91��˶��’s ARCH Project (Art Remediating Campus Histories), a five-year collaboration with students, staff, faculty, and alums, and was produced in partnership with . The monument will be unveiled and dedicated in April 2025

Project Timeline Coverage Archive Project Team

Don't Forget to Remember (Me)

This project's artwork was recently installed in the Old Library Cloisters. Entitled “,” the artwork embeds monumental braided pathways throughout the courtyard of the Cloisters behind the Old Library, comprising thousands of custom clay brick pavers in a square knot formation. Throughout the paths, Durrett included nearly 250 engraved pavers with the names of former Black staff members who were critical to building and operating the College, particularly in its early decades, but their contributions have been historically unrecognized.

Of Historical Significance

The full trail of pavers is equal to the distance Enid Cook, the first Black woman to graduate from Bryn Mawr, had to walk from her off-campus residence to the center of campus. The earth used to make the pavers was drawn from the area of Perry Garden and the former Perry House. The artwork will be unveiled on campus in April, along with a suite of programs aimed to commemorate and celebrate it.

April 24, 2025 Unveiling & Dedication

The final fabrication of Nekisha Durrett’s “Don't Forget to Remember (Me)” is underway in the Cloisters. Join the campus community for a dedication of the artwork on April 24, 2025, which will include activities sponsored by Special Collections, an evening unveiling celebration, as well as other opportunities for commemoration and reflection.

Event Details

About the Monument

An aerial view of the Cloisters with a braided stone path

Significance

Don't Forget to Remember (Me), will be placed in the Cloisters at the center of Old Library and contribute to a broader effort of historical reckoning. The monument will use terracotta pavers to create pathways in the Cloisters’ courtyard which, when seen from above, create a woven path that "takes the shape of a knot that cannot be undone, symbolizing interconnectivity, and making visual that Bryn Mawr is reexamining its history to tell all of its stories.”

Recognition

Engraved pavers will include the names of those Black staff whose work was critical to building and operating the College, particularly in its early decades, but whose contributions were historically unrecognized.

The Arch Project monument in the Cloisters

Community

The community of Bryn Mawr will be able to amble across these grounds, thinking of those who came before them and paved the way as the names of those individuals will be embossed into the surface of the fired clay.

The Artist

Nekisha Durrett is the 2022 Howard University Social Justice Consortium’s (SJC) Artist in Residence Fellow. From large freestanding sculptures to intimate gallery installations, her work uses unexpected materials to make historical connections and connotations that places and materials embody but are overlooked in our day-to-day lives.

Histories Working Group

In 2018, former president Kim Cassidy announced the formation of a Telling Bryn Mawr Histories Working Group to examine histories of exclusion and resistance in the College's past. The group, composed of students, faculty, and staff, was charged with developing recommendations for structures, strategies, and resources to enable further exploration and telling of the College’s histories. The ARCH Project emerged from the recommendations of this group.

Explore early updates about the Telling Bryn Mawr Histories Working Group below.

More about The ARCH Project

Beyond The ARCH Project

A larger College commitment.

The ARCH Project is part of a larger commitment from the College “to reflect upon and work to build fair, open and welcoming institutional structures, values, and culture.”

Additional past and current projects include:

For more information, visit the comprehensive lists of resources and projects below.

College Reckoning & Repair Efforts

Engaging College Histories

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Resources for