STRIDES

Weathering Steel, Stainless Steel
Installed in 2024, Strides was commissioned by Bon Secours Health System to recognize Westhampton School’s place in the story of racial integration. The goal of artists Matt Lively and Tim Harper was to evoke “experienced feelings surrounding the history that allow for conversations and understanding” regarding the events that occurred here. In 1961, 12-year-old Daisy Jane Cooper became the first African American student at Westhampton Junior High School, following a three-year legal case and a U.S. District Court order to desegregate. 

Strides consists of two 12-foot by 6-foot forms. Standing four feet apart, the two mirrored forms create negative space between them in the shape of a plus sign, which serves as a visual symbol of integration. By entering and moving through this negative space, one can sense tension from the close proximity of surrounding forces. This exercise is meant to inspire viewers to consider what Daisy Jane Cooper must have felt that first day of school, with the weight of mounting pressures all around her.  

Emerge from the interior and walk around the sculpture to either end, and one can see that Strides is, in essence, two plus signs consolidated into one experience. This is the story of integration: the joining of many, for the strength of all.