The city unveiled its latest installation of public art with Break Water, seventh in the annual temporary SiteSee exhibits at Waterfront Park.

The sculpture by DC-based mixed media artist Nekisha Durrett will be on display through November 2025. It draws inspiration from Alexandria’s waterfront being a place where natural forces and human activity intersect.

Break Water’s centerpiece is crafted from blackened wood to evoke the sidewheel of the steamboat River Queen, a vessel that symbolized Black ownership and opportunity. The River Queen was mysteriously destroyed by fire in 1911 shortly after its purchase by Lewis Jefferson, a Black entrepreneur. Encircled by black sandbags, the piece honors the resilience and strength of Black communities, referencing both protection and endurance during crises.

According to the artist, “In Break Water, these black sandbags serve not only as mere barriers; they symbolize the ocean’s breakwaters and connect to the American scholar Fred Moten’s concept of the jazz ‘break’ as a site of Black resistance and innovation – a moment of disruption and possibility within the relentless flow of time and history.”

Surrounding the sculpture is a ground mural of tangled taut ropes called “Life Lines,” which tether the artwork to the park’s architectural elements, anchoring it against a symbolic undercurrent. The life lines are intended to represent events, people, places, rituals and traditions that are part of Alexandria’s history. The sculpture and mural together were created as a tribute to Alexandria’s Black community.