Memphis cobblestones loaned for exhibit in Italy
Hundreds of cobblestones once part of the historic landing in Downtown Memphis will be displayed in a prestigious architecture exhibit in Venice, Italy, beginning next month.
About 700 of the 2,000 or so cobblestones kept in storage by the Riverfront Development Corp. have been loaned for use in the 16th International Venice Architecture Biennale, which opens May 26 and runs through November 25. They will be a featured part of an exhibit at the United States Pavilion called “Dimensions of Citizenship.”
The stones will be transported by the Chicago firm Studio Gang, which last year produced a “Memphis Riverfront Concept” plan for a task force appointed by Mayor Jim Strickland. The firm will lay the stones in the pavilion to “form a powerful spatial experience” that will help tell the story of “exceptional Memphis citizens,” Studio Gang says in a booklet outlining the project.
RDC, the non-profit agency that manages riverfront parks and amenities under a contract with the city, recently entered an agreement with Studio Gang and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, which, along with the University of Chicago, was selected by the National Endowment for the Arts and the State Department as co-commissioner of the U.S. Pavilion for the architecture exhibit.
The agreement not only makes Studio Gang responsible for the stones while they’re transported and exhibited, but “guarantees they’ll bring them back,” said retiring RDC President Benny Lendermon.
Although there was no board vote on the loaning of the cobblestones, the staff and directors were aware of the project, Lendermon said. “It wasn’t anything we felt needed a formal vote,” he said.
The stones were once part of what is considered the nation’s largest remaining intact cobblestone landing. Built between the late 1850s and 1890s, the landing is made up of hundreds of thousands of stones quarried in Illinois and laid by immigrant laborers. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Replacing a “big, old muddy wharf,” the cobblestone surface provided better access from the city to vessels carrying goods and people on the Mississippi River, said Jimmy Ogle, Shelby County historian.
No stones, however, were dug up for use in the exhibit. The stones being used by Studio Gang came from a “pile” excavated nearly 30 years ago when Tom Lee Park was expanded and Riverside Drive was shored up, Lendermon said. The stones were kept in a RDC maintenance compound on Mud Island.
Lendermon said the Venice exhibit is “absolutely” a proper use of the stones.
“It draws attention to the historic cobblestone landing. It draws attention to Memphis. It draws attention to our riverfront,” he said.
Carol Coletta, who officially takes over as head of RDC this month, echoed Lendermon’s comments.
“It shows that we sometimes undervalue what we own.”
Reach Tom Charlier thomas.charlier@commercial appeal.com or 901-529-2572 and on Twitter at @thomasrcharlier. at