The Meeting Room, 2013
Queen Anne Square, Newport, Rhode Island
Sponsor: Doris Duke Foundation, Newport Restoration Foundation
Landscape Design: Edwina von Gal + Co. with LaGuardia Design
Lighting Design: Tillett Lighting Design Associates
Stonework: Johns Stevens Shop
Photography: Rose Marie Cromwell
Additional Photography: Alexander Nesbitt
The design of The Meeting Room centers on the creation of stone foundations and rooms that trace the historical pre-existing building foundations at this site.
Each of the three foundations represents a different century—the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth—and texts from historic documents from those periods have been carved into the thresholds, capturing in subject matter, phrasing, and lettering the voice of each era. The quotes were selected from historic journals, each focused on a different aspect of life, from domesticity and the hearth, to the main industries of sailing and farming, to the builder’s trade. The style of lettering for each foundation was selected and hand-cut by one of the oldest stone-carving businesses in America, the John Stevens Shop, whose home base is in Newport and has been in operation since 1705.
I have worked with the John Stevens Shop, starting with John Benson, since the beginning of my projects for the text and stonecutting of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, The Civil Rights Memorial, and The Women’s Table. I then worked with his son Nick Benson. It was special that I was able to collaborate with them in their hometown of Newport. Allowing the language of lettering to help inform the work was a primary element; elevating everyday vernacular sayings to almost monumental status was a quiet subversion of the commemorative design tradition.
The largest space of The Meeting Room, rather than represent a particular building, is based on the proportion and scale of public meeting halls such as Trinity Church, Old Stone Mill, King’s Arms Tavern, and the original footprint of the Great Friends (Quaker) Meeting House—spaces that were such an essential part of the evolving community’s collective spirit. The scale of this foundation both suits the site and presents a general notion of public meeting halls, inclusive of all groups who may want to use it. Within this room I chose to set into stone an excerpt from the Charter of 1663 for the Colony of Rhode Island, which legislated religious freedom and separation of church and state. The use of stone carving in this work endows the everyday voice with the importance of constitutional charter language.
While the small spaces are intended for individual use, The Meeting Room is scaled for public gatherings. The chimney hearth, representing the core of family and community, stands as an enigmatic invitation to the park, while the stone table, with its hidden spring, represents the essential element of a new settlement.
Related Press:
Rubinton, Noel. Where to See (Really See) the Art of Maya Lin. The New York Times (October 20, 2017)