Baltimore church displays artwork that celebrates diversity, confronts tainted past

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    BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Govans Presbyterian Church, founded in 1844, is one of Baltimore’s oldest churches.

On Sunday, the church unveiled new artwork that celebrates its diversity and confronts its tainted past.

In 2021, Govans Presbyterian Church underwent what they called a self-examination of its heritage and role in racial segregation across its 170 years of history.

“Through research of the state archives, we discovered that William Govan, in the 18th century, had a plantation,” said Myra Brosius, a church member who helped discover this history. “We then found someone who mapped the original land grants of Maryland, and discovered we were on our church on his plantation.”

Embracing the church’s history Brosius is also a part of the church’s Racial Justice Committee, which wanted to confront its past but also change the narrative of the church’s history by embracing who they are now.

In January 2024, the committee advertised a commission to a Black Baltimore artist to create and display two pieces of art in the church sanctuary to provide racially diverse images in the worship space. Their hope is for the artwork to be a permanent display at the front of the church behind the pulpit.

The goal is to create images of people of color in Govans to communicate that all are welcome.

“Confronting their past” The congregation wanted to incorporate artwork that is reflective of worship and their community.

After reviewing proposals, the committee selected Ky Vassor, a Baltimore-based mixed media illustrator, muralist, educator, and curator.

“It was so important to, quite literally, acknowledge the land that we’re on, and even the enslaved individuals that, at one point, you know, forcibly had to take care of this land,” said Vassor, the lead artist for the art display.

Vassor and the church worked collaboratively for almost a year to create a piece of art that embodies who they are.

“Govans is very upfront about confronting their past but also making strides to kind of create a new future for themselves,” said Vassor.

The new art display The new art display consists of two gothic arched panels titled Sanctuary City Part I & II. Its colorful acrylic panels depict 14 men, women and children.

“Some of the folks that you’ll see in the very forefront of the mural, or folks that have been affected by police brutality, such as Corinna Gaines and Freddie Gray,” Vassor said. “I also wanted to highlight folks from that were civil rights leaders that were also other community leaders, such as Lillian Kim, who helped a lot of Chinese American immigrants first coming to Baltimore.”

The panels sit at 8 1/2 feet tall and 2 1/2 feet wide.

Other faces honored on the art display include the road workers killed in the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, and the enslaved people who worked the plantation on the site of the church.

“I wanted to acknowledge them, even past their labor, as humans, you know, as fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers,” Vassor said. “So, each of their names are also described across the top of the mural. I also wanted to acknowledge even a non-binary person, Pauli Murray, who was a pretty large civil rights activist that was born here in Baltimore, but again, is seldom acknowledged.”

Now all their stories have a place where they will all be remembered, recognized, and honored for future generations to come.

“I hope that this helps folks talk to one another about extraordinarily difficult topics that are happening in our communities,” said Vassor.

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