‘Other Washingtons’ brings new stories to King Drive
Aug 12, 2026
Amanda Williams’ “Other Washingtons” is installed along King Drive near 51st Street, July 31, 2026.
A small thicket of blue, cream, brown and salmon flags now flutters around the massive bronze statue of George Washington on King Drive near 51st Street, drawing attention to the 122-year-old monument even as it partially obscures it.
The flags are part of “Other Washingtons,” a new installation by Chicago artist Amanda Williams that asks passersby to consider dozens of lesser-known Washingtons alongside the nation's first president.
Williams' installation, one of eight major public art projects commissioned through the city's Chicago Monuments Project, was unveiled Aug. 6 during a ceremony attended by more than 50 people, including Mayor Brandon Johnson, Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd) and the royal court of the Bud Billiken Parade.
The George Washington statue was installed in 1904 by the Daughters of the American Revolution. But Dowell said the monument has long had little connection to the community that surrounds it.
"I have really never paid attention to this statue," Dowell said. "You might pay attention to it on Bud Billiken Day. But other than that, it doesn't really speak to this community."
Amanda Williams’ “Other Washingtons” is installed along King Drive near 51st Street, July 31, 2026.
The Chicago Monuments Project was launched in 2020 to reconsider who and what Chicago commemorates in its public spaces.
“Who is missing from our public memory, and how can we tell a fuller and more truthful story?” Lydia Ross of the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) said, describing the question at the heart of the project.
Supported by a grant from the Mellon Foundation, the Chicago Monuments Project centers "histories, communities, and narratives historically excluded from civic commemoration," according to the city. The Chicago Torture Justice Memorial, which broke ground further south on King Drive last month, is another of the eight projects.
The monuments project grew out of the racial justice protests that followed the 2020 murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, when monuments across the country came under renewed scrutiny over whom they honored and whose histories they left out. In Chicago, protesters repeatedly targeted statues of Christopher Columbus, prompting the city to temporarily remove monuments in Grant and Arrigo parks that summer.
Dowell said residents also began reaching out to her about the George Washington statue.
Williams, according to a DCASE press release, "uses art as a medium to critique and expose the complex intersections of race, capitalism, and the built environment."
Artist Amanda Williams poses near her “Other Washingtons” installation on King Drive, Aug. 6, 2026.
Trained as an architect, Williams creates installations, sculptures, paintings and works on paper that “inspire new ways of looking at the familiar and, in the process, raise questions about the inequitable state of urban space and ownership in America," according to her website.
"This project in particular really thinks about what it means to tie us to a national and international story, but also (so) the gentlemen who play dominoes here every day and those of us who live in the neighborhood and walk around can enjoy this," Williams said during the ceremony.
"It's not just about monumentalizing people or things, but also about creating space for those kinds of conversations," she continued.
“Other Washingtons” consists of about 40 flagpoles bearing flags and vertical banners carrying the names and personal stories of people with Washington as part of their names. Positioned around the George Washington statue, these stories are legible to pedestrians and drivers stopped at the nearby traffic light. They invite pause and contemplation.
Many tell the stories of extraordinary ordinary people.
On one banner, Anise Harkey writes about her grandfather, George Washington Sims:
"George Washington [Sims], Sr., was born in Milford, Texas, in 1885. His profession was teacher. They had segregated schools, so it would have been all people of color.
“In 1918, due to the Selective Service Act of 1917, it was mandatory that he register for the Armed Services ... He registered in September, at age 32. Three months later, almost to the date, December 15th, 1918, at age 32, he died.
“He was one of the millions who died in the great influenza that swept through the entire world from 1918 to 1920."
Williams said the stories will soon be accessible online and through QR codes printed on the banners and signs at the site.
The colors used in “Other Washingtons” draw from the palette Williams developed for “Color(ed) Theory,” her earlier installation in Englewood. One of those colors was a shade of blue she recreated with University of Chicago students from a pigment patented by scientist and inventor George Washington Carver.
Artist Amanda Williams poses with members of the Bud Billiken Parade royal court near her “Other Washingtons” installation on King Drive, Aug. 6, 2026.
Williams hopes to work with the schools closest to the statue, including Dyett High School, Burke Elementary School and Mollison Elementary School. She suggested incorporating “Other Washingtons” into civic and visual arts lessons, giving students opportunities to “learn about different types of writing and storytelling” that could lead to careers in those fields.
Dowell supported that ambition, saying she was glad to see young people attending the unveiling.
"We have to be able to show them the history. You don't always learn it in a book," she said.
Monroe Edwards, crown princess of the Bud Billiken Parade, said the installation had already changed the way she thought about the monument.
"When I first came, I thought it would just be a presentation, like talking about the history of the statue and about George Washington. But it was actually a lot different,” she said. “It was talking about all the different Washingtons and how they contributed to helping out in the community.
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