If you are looking forward to visiting Destination Crenshaw's Sankofa Park, be prepared to wait just a little while longer.
While the first major component of the $100-million public art and open space project was previously expected to make its debut in Fall 2023 (i.e. now-ish), the projects backers announced last week that Sankofa Park is now scheduled for completion on the more precise date of February 24, 2024.
Sankofa Park, named for the Sankofa bird, is now taking shape just south of the K Line's Leimert Park Station on land that was previously used as a grass median. In the near future, the space will feature installations and sculptures from artists including Charles Dickson, Maren Hassinger, Artis Lane, and Kehinde Wiley, as well as a signature metal viewing platform.
Designed by Perkins&Will, with Studio-MLA providing landscape design and Gallagher & Associates providing storytelling exhibits and augmented reality supplements, the overall Destination Crenshaw project stretches a 1.3 miles along a section of the K Line which runs at street level despite a community push to run the service as a subway. Community leaders responded with the new outdoor museum as a way to "turn an insult into an opportunity."
Sankofa Park will be followed by additional green spaces at sites scattered along the Destination Crenshaw corridor, which spans from Vernon Avenue in the north to 60th Street in the south. Plans call for additional sculptures by Melvin Edwards, Alison Saar, and Brenna Youngblood, as well as murals from artists including Patrick Henry Johnson, Anthony “Toons One” Martin, and Kissai Ramsess.
Among the largest installations within the project is a refresh of the iconic Crenshaw Wall at Crenshaw and 50th Streets. The 787-foot-wall will be repainted by the RTN Crew, which created the wall's original mural more than 20 years ago.
In February 2023, Destination Crenshaw had raised $72 million of its $100 million goal, tapping sources including Metro, The Getty Foundation, Federal Community Project Funding, and even the likes of Issa Rae and DeMar DeRozan.
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- Destination Crenshaw (Urbanize LA)