A rendering of Dix Park Plaza & Play by MVVA featuring a curved pathway through gardens and trees. People are walking on the path and throughout the park.

Rendering produced by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates (MVVA)

Public Art: Gipson Play Plaza at Dorothea Dix Park

Raleigh Arts


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Public Art at Gipson Play Plaza About the Artists Johnny Lee Chapman, III Project Details Timeline Public Input

Public Art at Gipson Play Plaza

In 2020, Artists Mark Reigelman and Johnny Lee Chapman, III were selected to create public art for the Gipson Play Plaza at Dorothea Dix Park. 

Johhny Lee Chapman, III has created a poetry walk experience for visitors to the park. His poem, A Day in the Life, can be experienced through 16 corten steel sculptures in the form of oak, poplar, and maple leaves. The leaves each contain a phrase from the poem and are scattered throughout the Gipson Play Plaza next to the accessible paths. A full version of the poem is engraved into pecan wood slabs from trees reclaimed from the park. Click here to hear Chapman recite the poem.

Mark Reigelman has created a sculpture series of three larger than life deer. In Meadow of the Deer, this family of oversized steel silhouettes casually roam the grounds, paying homage to the park’s historic natural elegance while highlighting its history of healing. Derived from Old English, the word Raleigh loosely translates to mean “meadow of the deer.” Quite fittingly, the stoic profile of a stag wanders the City’s oldest double-sided flag, offsetting the modified coat of arms of Sir Walter Raleigh, after whom the city is named.  Inspired by the archived drawings of the hospital’s former patients, which often focused on radial and repetitive gestures as a means of calming the mind, Meadow of the Deer’s radiating sculptural linework consists of layers of steel radiating in an x-formation from the center outward. This stratified approach allows for a unique level of transparency and environmental integration. 

The public artwork is being installed in the park this February 2025 and will be on display when the park opens in May 2025.

About the Artists

Johnny Lee Chapman, III

Cheerful young Black man with braided hair smiling brightly for the camera.

Johnny Lee Chapman, III is an interdisciplinary artist from Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina. Chapman started writing as a Tumblr poet in 2010 during his first year at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a student in the Dental Hygiene program. In 2014, he leaped from the page to the stage, beginning his career as a spoken word artist. Since then, he has performed regionally and nationally and is an active voice within his Triangle community. His professional range includes spoken word performances, screenwriting and acting, facilitation of poetry showcases, craft workshops, and artist mentorship. Chapman also operates as a visual artist under the name, The Golden Moment, utilizing the mediums of film and photography to convey emotion without explanation. 

Chapman embraces the title of the storyteller: the one in charge of relaying history by inspiring the audiences imagination. His art can be best summed up as an in-depth case study on the human condition in the new millennium, a genre-bender unafraid to infringe on the hidden to provide a novel perspective for all who grant him a moment. Offstage, he can be found traveling with his camera and passport, providing care to the community as a Registered Dental Hygienist (brush all the teeth you wish to keep), or playing a game of soccer on the pitch. A personal motto he wishes to leave with any is Never let your ink run dry.

Photo credit: Sarah Demuth

White man with short hair smiling broadly for the camera while sitting outside.

Mark Reigelman

Mark Reigelman's work reevaluates the everyday, reinvigorates gathering spaces, and engages with urban and rural conditions. These interventions attempt to reorient one’s perception and inspire a renewed collective consciousness. By favoring the process of research and exploration, he has a unique body of work poised between abstraction and literal representation, guided by a clear conceptual foundation and whimsical synthesis. It is this bold site-specific approach to reimagining spaces that he hopes to apply to each artwork he creates.

His artistic ethos is rooted in the notion that public art can act as a portal to other possible worlds, which viewers might traverse and inhabit. The intent is to visually communicate a narrative that reshapes aspects of a specific environment and engages individuals in new and exciting ways, urging viewers to interact with the site and one another. This framework guides the physical characteristics of the installation; placement, duration, scale, colors, processes, and materials are selected based on their ability to convey best and reinforce the conceptual narrative. To achieve this level of energy and site responsiveness, he begins with meticulous research and documentation of the local environment and site history.

Project Details

The Gipson Play Plaza is approximately 18 acres and sits on the southern edge of the park and will become the main entrance to Dix Park along Lake Wheeler Road, welcoming visitors travelling from around the City and across the State. 

As described in the Dorothea Dix Park Master Plan, the Gipson Play Plaza aspires to be an inviting and inspiring public space for all ages with one-of-a-kind play spaces, a civic plaza, fountains, gardens, and areas to cookout and relax with family and friends. The history of the site will come alive through public art, interpretive signage, and a rehabilitated historic house. 

Learn more about the Play Plaza project

This project is part of the Percent for Art program.

Timeline

DateActivity
July - September 2021Research & Community Engagement
September - October 2021 Integrated Concept Design Phase
November 2021Completion of Integrated Concept Designs
Spring - Summer 2022Final Design Phase
Winter 2025Fabrication & Installation

Public Input

From 2020-2022 project artists and designers gathered inspiration and learned about the history of Dorothea Dix Park and surrounding community. Visit the Gipson Play Plaza Public Art PublicInput project page to learn more about the artists and view art survey results.

Contact

 

Kelly McChesney
Public Art Director
kelly.mcchesney@raleighnc.gov
919-996-5657

Department:
Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources
Service Categories:
Raleigh Arts
Board, Commission or Committee:
Arts Commission
Related Services:
Public Art

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