We’re used to thinking of cemeteries as collections of monuments created to remember lives lived. But Cedar Hill Cemetery in Suitland, Maryland, just outside the Washington, DC city limits must be considered in another way. It is a 20th century cemetery with a very unremarkable collection of stock granite monuments. Making the place special, are the five groups of sculptural creations that adorn public spaces—the spaces between the burial sites. Mexican-born artist Dionicio Rodriguez designed and built landscape adornments that invited visitors to stop, visit, contemplate and engage. Sculpting in reinforced concrete that replicated rough-hewn wood stone and ceramic tile, Rodriguez [1891-1955] designed and built two bridges, benches, a table and a huge hollow tree truck at Cedar Hill between 1936 and 1937. This paper will consider these creations and their intent within the larger context of the artist’s work, which can be also be found in Tennessee, Texas, Arkansas, and New Mexico. It will also consider them within the context of work produced by other artist and visionaries—among them Henry Mercer and John J. Early—who explored the possibilities inherent in concrete construction.
About the presenterDennis Montagna
Dr. Dennis Montagna directs the National Park Service’s Monument Research & Preservation Program. Based at the Park Service’s Philadelphia Region Office, the program provides comprehensive assistance in the interpretation and care of historic cemeteries, outdoor sculpture and public monuments to managers of National Park sites and to other constituents nationwide. He is a Trustee of the Association for Gravestone Studies and serves as the organization’s Vice President. He holds a BA degree in Studio Art from Florida State University, a Master’s degree in Art History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Ph.D from the University of Delaware.