As the first in a series of periodic, curated exhibitions of temporary public art located in the city’s historic sites and museums, the City of Alexandria Public Art Program invited DC-based artist Sheldon Scott and the Baltimore-based artist team of Lauren F. Adams and Stewart Watson to create research-based, thought-provoking temporary public artworks that foster exploration and dialogue about Alexandria’s rich history located in Gadsby’s Tavern.

Through their research, Stewart Watson and Lauren Adams created a series of site specific intermedia installations titled “Centennial of the Everyday” which was represented in almost every room in the Tavern.

For their work, Adams and Watson decided to not focus on John Gadsby, but instead, focus on the idea of the tavern as being a place for convergence and conducted extensive research, travelling to other locations with ties to Gadsby’s tavern, reaching out to people who have connections with the museum, and working to bring all of those stories together.

Through their extensive research, Adams and Watson created works in a variety of media including traditional items such as ceramic stoneware, textiles, and furniture, as well as video and audio recordings placed throughout the museum.
To tell the stories of women, enslaved people, and anonymous visitors whose stories are often overshadowed in history by the more historically famous individuals, the artists created new works and objects that sat beside the historic objects throughout the museum, almost blending in with the historical items around them.

Adams and Watson created an Instagram account for Centennial of the Everyday to document their research throughout the process. Various activities such as tweetups, instameets, facebook live events helped the “Time & Place” project to reach audiences outside of the city.