Artists Unveilings
The William H. Gray III Memorial Foundation is partnering with Amtrak to honor the namesake of Philadelphia’s Gray 30th Street Station, William H. Gray III, through a legacy memorial project
that will create a new civic landmark in Philadelphia. The memorial will be situated in the great
hall of the historic train station that engages over 100,000 people each day.
Following an Open Call for Artist Ideas in late 2024, in consultation with a Memorial Advisory
Committee of key civic and cultural leaders, five finalists were invited to produce and
present full proposals on July 22nd in Philadelphia. Those artists included Nina Cooke John, Nekisha Durrett, Karyn Olivier, Paul Ramirez Jonas and Hank Willis Thomas.
To view Photos from the July 22nd Artists Presentations: Click HERE
Live footage from Public Officials speaking
at the July 22nd Artists Presentations
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All artist proposals will be reviewed by the Memorial Advisory Committee, a consultative body that will
deliver recommendations to the Gray Memorial Foundation. Artists proposals are currently being reviewed, with an announcement to come this fall 2025.The memorial is slated to be dedicated in 2027.
Crystal Stair
By Nekisha Durrett
The more I learn about Congressman William H. Gray III, one theme has come to define my understanding of his life: his calling as a minister. When asked to name his greatest achievement, he didn’t cite his role as the first Black Majority Whip, Chair of the House Budget Committee, or author of the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act. He said, simply, “Becoming a Baptist minister.” That choice reveals the core of his identity and the wellspring from which his public service flowed.
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“Crystal Stair,” situated in the heart of The William H. Gray 30th Street Station, seeks to honor that spiritual lineage as well as Gray’s unshakable belief in justice, opportunity, and resilience. Its 30-foot column draws visual and symbolic inspiration from Langston Hughes’s poem Mother to Son, a poem Gray himself recited in speeches and sermons—most notably in a 1993 address to MIT students honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Gray described how, as a boy, he was called the N-word. His grandmother, seeing his confusion and pain, sat him down and recited Hughes’s words:
Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair...
In her voice, and in Gray’s retelling, the poem became more than metaphor—it became inherited wisdom, passed down to fortify the next generation. It is this act of passing on—the testimony, the climb, the vision for a just world—that this monument seeks to embody.
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Congressman Gray is often described as a “pillar” of Congress and a “pillar” of his community. The verticality of “Crystal Stair" embodies that language while also referencing the architecture of the U.S. Capitol—an emblem of civic ideals and classical order. But as the surface begins to shift—interspersed with strips of raw wood, nails, and corten steel—it evokes the textured imagery of Langston Hughes’s poem Mother to Son: tacks, splinters, boards torn bare.
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Congressman Gray’s image emerges not from seamless monumentality, but from a mosaic of labor, faith, and struggle: a legacy built, quite literally, piece by piece.
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Two entrances invite visitors inside. Above each entrance, a hand-painted illuminated sign encased in corten steel echoes one that once hung over the door of a Negro church in Florida. It reads, “Beloved Community Come, You Are Welcome.” This phrase—drawn from Gray’s own language—signals that the space within belongs not to a single story or institution, but to the people. It is open, sacred, and shared.
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The monument is not only a structure—it is living. That idea of “living” is open to interpretation, but for me, its life is rooted in the interior. This is where the monument breathes. It is not a sealed container of history, but a space that invites continual reflection, contribution, and activation by the communities William H. Gray III served and inspired.
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View Nekisha's full presentation from July 22nd below:
Justice Interlaced
By Nina Cooke John
“Justice Interlaced” is a spatially immersive memorial that honors the life and ongoing impact of Congressman William H. Gray III. Sited within the west concourse of Gray 30th Street Station, the installation draws upon the architectural language of the station and the connective power of rail travel to represent Gray’s multifaceted legacy — grounded in Philadelphia, extended through Washington D.C., and reaching globally. The memorial reflects the layered narratives of Gray’s life — as pastor, congressman, and international leader — through a material and spatial vocabulary that invites reflection, interaction, and movement.
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The footprint of the memorial is approximately 16’ x 19,’ with a combined weight of around 22,000 pounds. It begins at the ground plane with a field of terrazzo, signaling a shift from the surrounding marble tile and demarcating the zone of the memorial. This foundational layer invites commuters to slow down and enter a new cognitive space within the station. Three groups of cast stone piers emerge from the base. Their color and texture align with the travertine finishes of the concourse, grounding the work in the materiality of the site. The form of the piers is symbolic: their wide bases reflect deep roots in the past, while their upward-tapering profiles arch toward the future — mirroring the long arc of justice and the enduring, evolving reach of Gray’s legacy.
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Intertwined with the piers are ribbons of painted steel and bronze. These elements rise, curve, and intersect — like rail lines — symbolizing connection, transit, and influence. The dual finish of the ribbons offers dynamic visual contrast: painted steel for resilience and progress; bronze for endurance and history. At the intersection of these rising elements, the likeness of William H. Gray’s face emerges — constructed not from a singular sculpted bust, but from a web of lines that speak to the complex, interconnected impact of his work.
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Embedded within the piers are text panels etched with key milestones from Gray’s life in Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and his global efforts — such as his leadership in anti-apartheid legislation. On their interior faces, oriented away from the main traffic path, more detailed inscriptions invite closer, more intimate engagement. Hyperdirectional speakers installed within the piers activate the memorial audibly. Visitors stepping into the sound field will hear Gray’s sermons and speeches, as well as testimony from those who continue to be shaped by his work. These sonic layers offer a multisensory experience that both reverberates with the daily soundscape of the station and distinguishes itself within it.
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“Justice Interlaced” is a site-specific and participatory memorial that encourages movement through and around it. It resists a singular narrative, offering instead a layered invitation to reflect on the multiplicity of Gray’s life and the ways in which his living legacy continues to move — like the trains below — through time, place, and collective memory.
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View Nina's full presentation from July 22nd below:
Our Ancestors Knew We Were Coming
By Paul Ramírez Jonas
We are holding those who came before us, and those who will come after us, in everything we do. I propose a monument that will invite members of the public to sit at the nexus where lineages pivot from ancestors to descendants.
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William H. Gray III was an elected official, spiritual leader, educator, as well as a child, partner, and parent. He succeeded his father as the senior minister at Bright Hope Baptist Church in Philadelphia. He held two heritages, as son and as pastor. He had three sons; but he also touched uncountable lives as the President of the United Negro College Fund. We all come from multiple lineages and have the potential to leave multiple legacies.
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Congressman Gray and I share a core value. We both believe in participation. Congressman Gray personified this through his multiple roles as elected official, pastor, and educational leader. I make art projects that carefully watch what people are doing in shared space, are brought to life through participation, and that illuminates the way individuals are part of larger communities.
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In the station we either rush or wait. I’m offering a bench to sit at the base of a life-sized genealogical tree. As these trees do, the branches will extend higher and higher reaching further into the past. As the branches divide they will trace multiple intertwining lineages: biological, familial, cultural, relationship-based, and one of the strands will be Congressman’s Gray own genealogy.
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The roots of this tree will represent the future: our descendants. As they extend onto the floor they will speak of our possible descendancy through biology, but also friendship, love, and civic engagement.
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Meanwhile, the bench will sit us at the nexus of past and future, at the trunk of the tree, allowing us to reflect on our role in this tree of life. While sitting, we might be inspired by the way Congressman Gray was someone’s child, a parent, and a grandchild, in addition to being the Chair of the House Budget Committee, Majority Whip, President of the UNCF, and a Pastor. What will we prepare for our descendants? I would argue that civic engagement means an awareness that we must prepare the ground for our descendants –just as our ancestors prepared the ground for us.
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The branches will incorporate words that trace different genealogies. The letter size will increase as the height increases to maintain legibility. The trunk will be at eye level and within reach and present information in Braille. The roots will cascade down the bench in the form of inlaid metal on the wooden bench. The bench will mimic the current station benches; and will have a durable epoxy finish. The metal roots will then spread onto the floor in the form of flush metal inlays on marble.
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The monument will be sited in the recommended space. Meanwhile the tree’s design and fabrication methods are porous so they will not completely block any view. The final color will heighten the visibility of the finished work, while remaining tastefully integrated with the station’s environment.
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View Paul's full presentation from July 22nd below:
PLATFORM
By Karyn Olivier
Memorials allow us to dig into histories to illuminate the present. It was both a daunting and exhilarating task to consider William H. Gray III’s remarkable career, and distill it into a singular memorial. My proposal focuses on several critical and overarching aspects of his extraordinary life of service—a life that sought justice, fought for liberties, and was deeply committed to the political and spiritual power held within communities.
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The stone architectural section recalls a church pulpit. It is comprised of stairs that lead to an elevated platform. The exterior of the pulpit, traditionally decorated with church symbols and biblical narratives, is replaced here with iconography from significant periods and events from Gray’s career. These symbols include the seal of the United States Congress, the flag of the City of Philadelphia, the United Negro College Fund’s logo, and the South African flag. The doorway’s frame is inscribed with Gray’s quote “Nothing is more powerful and liberating than knowledge.”
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A bronze-finished sculpture of Gray, on the final stair from his descent, is positioned at the door frame’s threshold. Gray’s stance, with an outstretched hand, recalls the natural ease with which he engaged disparate groups and people he encountered during his lifetime. In this memorial, it feels fitting to portray Gray descending the staircase, instead of walking up. I want to focus on the after-effect of his words once uttered from that elevated perch. What matters most are the moments that follow — the time when the collective work of the people should begin — when we join him in action. Gray’s words were at times a rallying cry for justice, to right wrongs endured; at other times proposed an opportunity; or conveyed a hope or a dream to inspire and lead us to action that sought change.
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A cluster of four columns extends upwards, morphing into a single column capped with a pyramidion and staked with a fused-glass American flag. The “obelisk” here is dedicated to a public servant who embodies the best ideals and aspirations of The American project. The four discrete columns, coming together as one singular form, is a visual metaphor for the strength of the people.
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A glass mosaic world map will be embedded in the floor beneath the monument. While Gray is best-known and most-loved here in Philadelphia where he served his pastoral flock and his constituents, he is not just a local hero. His work had a wide global impact—he introduced the Anti-Apartheid Act, an Emergency Food Aid bill, and was a special advisor in Haiti.
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My intention for this memorial is to allow neighbors, strangers, Philadelphians, daily commuters and those just passing through on their journey to destinations far and wide to “meet” Gray and participate in the unfolding of his enormous legacy. In considering his life and work, “PLATFORM” aims to spark individual engagement with Gray’s legacy, and remind us that his is a powerful, living invitation for us to continue making change.
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View Karyn's full presentation from July 22nd below:
Reverence
By Hank Willis Thomas
“Reverence” is a 13-foot bronze monument conceived as a tribute to the life, leadership, and enduring legacy of Congressman and Reverend William H. Gray III. His life was a monumental expression of purpose, faith, and community. It is an honor to propose a sculpture that seeks to embody the values and spirit he brought to every role—as a pastor, a congressman, and a voice for justice.
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The sculpture serves as both a salutation and a gateway for travelers and their loved ones, offering a moment of reflection as they begin or end their journeys. It will stand as a landmark and icon in an already historic location. Formed by two hands poised in a gesture that evokes prayer or deep in contemplation, the work invites viewers to pause. This gesture reflects Reverend Gray’s deep spiritual foundation and his role as a moral leader—guiding his congregation at Bright Hope Baptist Church, and leading his community, constituents, and colleagues through complex political and social challenges as he rose to serve as the fourth-highest-ranking member of Congress. There is a universal resonance in the gesture— it speaks to stillness, reflection, resolve, and collective hope. This concept honors the strength found in faith and the action that flows from it.
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There is also a personal connection: Bright Hope’s legacy intersects with that of North Penn Baptist Church, where both the Gray and my mother’s (Willis) families once Worshiped.
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The energy of the train station around the sculpture will heighten its impact. Amid the constant motion, “Reverence” will invite a quiet moment—echoing the momentum ofReverend Gray’s life, his national influence, and his enduring connection to the people of Philadelphia. Placed at this crossroads of movement and memory, the sculpture offers a pause for reflection, reminding passersby of a life dedicated to service, equity, and faith.
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Reverend Gray stood at the intersection of tradition and transformation. He carried forward the legacy of the Black church as a pillar of the Civil Rights Movement while breaking new ground in political leadership. “Reverence” is offered in the spirit of that legacy. It is not only a tribute to Reverend Gray himself, but a symbol of the community and values he championed—prayerful, purposeful, and powerful.
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My hope is that this memorial will serve as a lasting and meaningful tribute to his contributions—and that it will invite all who encounter it to reflect, to hope, and to carry forward the work he began.
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View Hank's full presentation from July 22nd below:
