For a brick-and-mortar business, a large display window can be a key component of its marketing. A striking storefront display turns passers-by into customers. So asking a retailer to loan that kind of asset to the city for a history project may seem like a big ask.
But for the owners of Misfit Tattoo Society, and numerous other Shockoe Bottom businesses, participating in the Black History Month “Portals” project was a no-brainer.
“We got an email asking local businesses for support and we were like, ‘Yes, of course,’” says Kendall Battle, communications manager at Misfit. “Then we saw the photo for our window and it’s absolutely stunning. It just takes your breath away.”
Organized by the City of Richmond’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities, the “Portals” art installation project is borrowing the windows of more than 20 such businesses in order to display archival photos of street life in Richmond from the 1800s, blown up to life size.

Each display will incorporate a QR code that will link observers to the website of the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, with context and background on the scene depicted.
The striking pictures are often overstuffed with fascinating details revealing what daily life was like 150 years ago. “The picture really captures what it must have been like to be on the sidewalk at that time in 1880,” says Battle. “It just puts you back in that moment.”
The “Portals” installation is the brainchild of Rebecca Phillips, a program recreation supervisor at Parks and Rec. She’s wanted to organize something for Black History Month almost since she started there five years ago.
“The issue with Parks and Rec [programming] is that most everything’s outside,” Phillips says. “And, of course, February is really cold.”

Looking for ideas online, she found a group in Philadelphia that did a community art display called “Reflecting Revenants” that used display window photos to reveal the sometimes invisible history of everyday life for Black Americans.
She started thinking a project like that would dovetail with another of her priorities: putting a spotlight on Shockoe Bottom, the neighborhood where the department maintains the 17th Street Market.
“I’ve always wanted to do something down here,” Phillips says. “During Black History Month, there’s not much representation in Shockoe Bottom even though there’s a lot of Black history here.”
Phillips called The Valentine Museum which quickly became a partner in providing images. “We went there and looked through hundreds of black-and-white photos going all the way back to the 1700s to the 1980s,” she says. The scenes chosen depict commonplace activities – studying at school, hanging out at work, having a picnic or performing a baptism – many from the late-19th century.
“I want people to imagine, ‘If I was standing right here during that time, this is what I would be seeing,’” Phillips says. “Some of the pictures were even taken on the 17th Street Market which is really cool.”

Phillips sold her vision to businesses and building owners in the neighborhood, quickly finding more than 20 offering their windows, all within two blocks of 17th Street Market. The whole project came together in a matter of weeks, though some of the final logistics will be tricky.
“As I’m sure you can imagine in Shockoe Bottom, nothing measures the same, like even windows that are right next to each other,” she says.
The Black History Museum is involved in the project in a couple ways. “We’re going into our archives and our artifacts to provide images for some of the windows,” says Saajida Chohan, the director of education and visitor experience. “Then, all of the information for this initiative will live on our website.”

Chohan says that it was important for the images to reflect a story of progress. “When we think about Shockoe Bottom, we tend to think in terms of the slave trade that originated there,” she says, a focus that doesn’t reflect the strides residents have made since.
“I want these windows to be able to convey a message of pride,” Chohan continues. “I want people in our community to observe these windows and become educated and inspired by the stories.”
The work in “Portals” reinforces efforts to expand appreciation of history beyond the walls of the museum and make it relevant to Richmonders today.
Chohan imagines observers walking around Shockoe Bottom, lingering while looking at the pictures, reading the information on their website, then reflecting on their own lives.
“I want people to be able to look at these windows and say, ‘You know what? I want, in my own way, big or small, to be able to make some difference.”
Businesses participating in the “Portals” project can be found on this map. QR codes on the displays with links to more information facilitate a self-guided tour.
If readers would like to be part of the project, the Department of Parts, Recreation and Community Facilities is looking for volunteers Jan. 25 to help prepare windows for installation. Please sign up here.
