Washington National Cathedral, Washington, D.C.
September 2023
Kerry James Marshall has been commissioned to replace stained-glass windows at the Washington National Cathedral featuring Confederate iconography, removed in 2017, with racial-justice themed windows. The Cathedral’s commission represents Marshall’s first time working with stained-glass as a medium, and is his first permanent public exhibition in the country. The installation reflects the Cathedral’s stated desire for new windows that “capture both darkness and light, both the pain of yesterday and the promise of tomorrow, as well as the quiet and exemplary dignity of the African American struggle for justice and equality and the indelible and progressive impact it has had on American society.”
“This project is not just a job – I don’t need the work – or only a piece of art. It’s kind of a calling, and a real honor to be asked,” said Marshall. “The themes that the Cathedral committee articulated set a great challenge for me as an artist and as a Black American man. The goal is to make truly meaningful additions to an already rich and magnificent institution, to make the changes they have embraced truly worth the effort.”
Learn more at the Washington National Cathedral.