Umama, and so she sows is a monumental piece of public art that honors the resilience, creativity, and survival of Black women from Richmond, Virginia, and Cape Town, South Africa—two cities united by their complex histories of colonization, segregation, and racial violence, but also by their legacies of liberation and creative resistance.

Created as part of ART 180’s Atlas Artist Residency, led by multidisciplinary artist Nastassja Swift and ART 180’s inaugural International Artist-in-Residence Xolani Sivunda, Umama stands as a testament to the power of collective action, shared history, and environmental sustainability. The monument was designed and constructed over eight weeks with the contributions of 10 Richmond teen artists from ART 180’s Atlas Artist Residency and more than a dozen community members, who worked alongside Swift and Sivunda to bring this powerful vision to life.

Crafted primarily from discarded and donated materials—95% of which were sourced from the Richmond community—Umama physically and metaphorically embodies sustainability. The crossroads represent a portal for path opening towards deeper understanding, direction, and fullness of being. Umama, and so she sows stands at the crossroads of Leigh and St. Peters Streets in Jackson Ward, weaving together three cultural institutions in a spiral of regenerating power. The monument faces in the direction of ART 180, the energetic epicenter that has been profoundly transforming the lives of artists and young people in greater Richmond for the past 27 years; to the right stands Ebenezer Baptist Church, the birthplace of Richmond’s public schools in 1866 and a dedicated league of educators throughout the region; and to the left, the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, the leading hub for historical archives and exhibitions chronicling the diverse life experiences of Black people throughout Virginia.

The monument challenges us to consider the role Black women play in sustaining our communities. Can we sustain our communities without them? The hands that shaped this monument reflect the hands that shape our world, asking us to reflect on how we hold Umama and how she holds us.

More than just a static sculpture, Umama is a living, breathing testament to communal resilience. She reflects the ongoing struggle for justice and equality, while offering a portal to healing and a pathway toward deeper understanding. By publicly marking the indelible contributions of Black women, Umama, and so she sows offers a meditation on what it means to sustain, nurture, and reimagine a future where art, history, and activism intertwine. She stands as a call to action, a monument built from the past but pointing toward new possibilities of collective healing and regeneration.