Located within Richmond’s Capitol Square, Mantle is a permanent monument that honors Virginia’s first nations. The artist, Alan Michelson, was selected by the Virginia Indian Commemorative Commission in consultation with the Native American community. We worked on the design with Alan, throughout all phases of the design competition, and are proud of the outcome.
The design is based on spiral shell embroideries that are featured on Powhatan’s Mantle (c.1608), which is thought to represent the nations of his confederacy. Mantle invites visitors to move within the symbolic circle of Native American culture, on a winding path paved with local river stones and landscaped with indigenous plants. HG Design Studio provided civil engineering and landscape architecture for the design.
