During 2014, Holzer and Art in Embassies sought text to be included in a permanent work of art pertaining to British-American relations or statecraft. Selected texts will be published online, as well as engraved directly onto stone walls of the new Embassy complex.
The Department of State’s Office of Art in Embassies (AIE) is pleased to announce its partnership with distinguished American artist Jenny Holzer on a collaborative sculptural project to be featured at the new U.S. Embassy in London, scheduled to open in 2017.
Holzer and Art in Embassies sought text to be included in a permanent work of art pertaining to British-American relations or statecraft. Selected texts will be published online, as well as engraved directly onto stone walls of the new Embassy complex.
Submissions were accepted online through December 31, 2014. Poetry, lyrics, exclamations, meditations, and quotations connecting the United States and U.K. as allies or as nations under duress were of particular interest. Students from both countries were encouraged to submit writing for consideration.
Jenny Holzer was born in Gallipolis, Ohio in 1950. With a professional career spanning more than three decades, her work has been featured in public places and international exhibitions including 7 World Trade Center, the Venice Biennale, the Guggenheim Museums in New York and Bilbao, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Holzer also holds honorary degrees from Ohio University, Williams College, the Rhode Island School of Design, The New School, and Smith College.
Art in Embassies was established by the Museum of Modern Art in 1953, and formalized as part of the Department of State by the Kennedy Administration in 1963. It is one of the United States’ premier public-private partnership arts organizations, with over 20,000 individual and institutional participants, and a presence in some 200 venues in 189 countries worldwide. AIE furthers U.S. diplomacy through the power of the visual arts by expansive, international cultural exchange initiatives.
For more information about the project or Art in Embassies, please contact Welmoed Laanstra at laanstraw@state.gov , or 703-875-4381 and visit https://art.state.gov. For more information about the participation of U.S. Embassy London in this program, contact the press office at PressLon@state.gov or +44-(0)20-7499-9000.
