Arts and culture energize, inspire and unite us. Artists’ vision and creativity helps make us better people and contribute to building vibrant and strong communities.
We strongly believe this at Pepco. That’s why we are thrilled to introduce a talented Washington, D.C. artist, Aja Moon, to the greater D.C. community this summer. On Aug. 2, Pepco’s Edison Place Gallery at 702 8th St., N.W., will open an exhibit of Moon’s works titled “The Aja Moon Collxn” that will continue through September. Register to attend at AjaMoonCollxn.eventbrite.com.
Moon, 37, came to our attention last fall when we were seeking community input to identify an artist and an artistic concept to beautify the exterior of our new Mount Vernon substation. As part of our commitment to provide more than energy, we conducted an online survey in September 2023. With help from the Mount Vernon Community Improvement District and its president and chief executive, Kenyattah Robinson, Pepco became acquainted with Moon and commissioned her to do the project in December 2023. Community meetings and discussions with Moon followed.
The result is a stunning and provocative example of public art titled “Illuminated Legacy.” It’s a 67-foot-long mural composed of 32 brightly colored digital portraits of notable Washingtonians who contributed to the city’s culture and heritage over the past 100 years. They are diverse in every sense of the word. They all contributed to D.C.’s culture palette as religious figures, political activists, sports stars, writers, musicians and more. Half are women; half are men.
Some names will be familiar, such as jazz composer Duke Ellington and Virginia Ali, the co-founder of Washington’s famous Ben’s Chili Bowl restaurant. Others may be lesser known, such as Carter G. Woodson, the founder of Black History Month, who lived in Shaw and passed away there in 1950.
One of the faces on the mural is a great-uncle of Moon’s, and his identity is part of the story of the artist’s vision for the mural. Rev. Dr. W.H. Jernagin was a pastor of the Mt. Carmel Baptist Church in the Mount Vernon neighborhood and a well-known civil rights activist until his death in 1958.
Moon, who grew up in Mount Vernon, conceived “Illuminated Legacy” as a blend of art and local history with a nod to its placement outside a substation. She researched more than 70 people. And then the winnowing began to match her candidates with the space available in the mural.
“There were so many stories to tell and I want this mural to depict the full entity of D.C. culture and some of the contributions that have been made to the foundation of culture in D.C.,” she says.
Moon, a portrait artist who describes her paintings as abstract realism, began working on “Illuminated Legacy” in February. She estimates she has poured about 500 hours of her heart and soul into the project.
Pepco is proud to also display this artwork outside the Mount Vernon substation, which was energized in May. Its completion is a significant achievement in our Capital Grid project to build an integrated solution for providing safe, reliable energy to the Nation’s Capital.
Some of the portraits from the “Illuminated Legacy” mural will be included in the exhibit of more than 30 works at Pepco’s Edison Place Gallery. The exhibit will also include seven portraits of accomplished Black women from various walks of life, a series that Moon calls “creatHER: constructing the Black Woman.”
Pepco is delighted to sponsor Moon’s first major solo exhibit at the Edison Place Gallery. This spacious facility is available to nonprofits for meetings and other events. Please check pepco.com/gallery for more information.