Ren Davidson Seward and Tiffany Rea-Fisher collaborated with John Brown Lives! on community engagement events to illuminate the history of freedom and human rights in the Adirondacks. Ren worked on two site-specific installations in Lake Placid, New York: “A Memorial Field” and “Spiraling Round the Promise of the Right to Vote.” Both were situated in a grassy field surrounding a statue of John Brown, the abolitionist. The first installation honored victims of police brutality and was an appeal for police reform. The second was a window on the long struggle for the right to vote and systematic disenfranchisement. Furthermore, Ren organized a conversation series during summer of 2023: “9 conversations on Equity and Justice.” She enlisted professional facilitators and transcribed the conversations about the value of open, honest exchange across racial lines (downloadable at amemorialfield.org). Along the way, she collaborated with other artists, dancers, and musicians for community-engagement events at the John Brown Farm, including a movement meditation led by Tiffany; a community string-along with Charlie Burnham for “The Violin Vigil for Ellijah McClain;” and the film featured above with a North Country filmmaker/musician, Michael Hart.

The mission of John Brown Lives! is not just to honor John Brown’s forceful voice in bringing an end to slavery, but to take his lead and follow in his footsteps, promoting social justice and human rights through reflection and activism, awareness and exploration, kinship and individual action.

Existing at the intersection of environmental and transformational justice, the Adirondack Diversity Initiative (ADI) works to make the Adirondacks a welcoming and inclusive place for both residents and visitors while ensuring a vital and sustainable Adirondack Park for future generations.