A fundraiser supporting the arts and efforts to preserve Black history in Arlington showcased the work of a local artist last week.
The Langston Boulevard Alliance hosted the event on Sept. 24, displaying photographic collages created by Zane Killgo that explore the Halls Hill, Arlington View (Johnson’s Hill) and Green Valley communities.
“They are a time capsule,” said Killgo, because they represent a moment in time in neighborhoods that are rapidly changing.
Killgo spent up to three months photographing sites in each neighborhood, then editing the finished pieces together using Adobe Photoshop.
The goal is “to recognize the importance of these communities,” Killgo told ARLnow.
The event was sponsored by Fractured Atlas, a nonprofit arts-services organization. The ultimate goal is to get the artwork accepted into Arlington’s permanent public art collection.
Doing so will ensure that these aspects of the county’s history are “forever ingrained” in its story, Killgo said.
Killgo is a fifth-generation Arlingtonian who lives in the Halls Hill-High View Park community. He is a graduate of Yorktown High School and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fine arts from Norfolk State University.
According to event organizers:
“His work explores the lived experience of gentrification and disenfranchisement in Black communities, blending acrylic paint, textiles, photography, printmaking and digital media into vibrant, folk-inspired cityscapes that center the voices of longtime residents.”
Killgo has created similar artwork in D.C. and has completed preparatory work for a series in Philadelphia.
Earlier this year, the Arlington Historical Society mounted an exhibit of Killgo’s work, called “A Different Look from a Different View,” at the Arlington Historical Museum. It, too, focused on the gentrification of historic county neighborhoods.
Killgo was part of the team that partnered with the Langston Boulevard Alliance to secure a $50,000 grant from the Arlington Commission for the Arts for a pop-up art gallery that debuted in February.
