September Artist Meet and Greet at the Big Chair
2024-09-01 16:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Historic Congressional Cemetery Big Chair, 1801 E St SE, Washington, DC, 20002, United States
Join HCC in a Meet the Artists gathering at the Big Chair, September 1st at 4 PM!
Come for a meet and greet with the Big Chair’s Artist, Heather Sabarese, accompanied by frequent HCC art contributor, Elizabeth Marik, for a design commemorating Suicide Awareness Month 2024.
This September marks a year since Heather and her son, Aiden, were chosen to create the first “Stories of Hope” installation at the Big Chair in awareness of suicide prevention. Their lighthouse design and painting were featured for three months last year. The topic was and is personal: they had lost her nephew (his cousin), Justin, to suicide that year.
Earlier this year, Aiden also lost his life to suicide. A copy of his Godzilla tattoo is now an ongoing feature of the Big Chair.
The design for 2024 incorporates, in the words of Heather, “the colors of suicide prevention, which are light purple and teal. I…also… incorporate[d] some cats as Justin and Aiden are both cat dads and I have been reading about them– Mythology of cats and death. Many cultures have cat or goddesses that play a role in the death process such as Bastet, Madfet, Kasha, and Freya’s cat.”
Join us Sunday, September 1 at 4:00pm – refreshments and remarks at the Big Chair next to HCC’s Gate Entrance.
This event is Free to the public and requires no RSVP.
This installation is part of The Big Chair Project: Messages of Hope. By and for the Congressional Cemetery community, we welcome artists (of all skills and experience levels) to propose installations and, if chosen, we provide the paint and brushes and cheer you on.
If you are interested in participating in painting the Big Chair, please inquire in the gatehouse or email: DeathDoula@congressionalcemetery.org

Pride Painting at the Big Chair: Meet the Artist
2024-06-17 16:00 - 17:00
Join HCC in Celebrating our Pride Themed Chair!
Come for a meet and greet with the Big Chair’s Artist, Elizabeth Marik, and celebrate Pride!
Monday, June 17th at 4:00 PM– refreshments and remarks at the Big Chair next to HCC’s Gate Entrance.
This event is Free to the public and requires no RSVP.
Painted by amazing HCC Volunteer and Artist Elizabeth Marik, our current Big Chair painting celebrates pride and reflects Marik’s experience as part of the LGBTQ+ community. It expresses a sincere wish for communities to come together in order to break free of what confines us to create universal freedom of expression for all.
This installation is part of The Big Chair Project: Messages of Hope.
By and for the Congressional Cemetery community, we welcome artists (of all skills and experience levels) to propose installations and, if chosen, we provide the paint and brushes and cheer you on!
If you are interested in participating in painting the Big Chair, please inquire in the gatehouse or email: DeathDoula@congressionalcemetery.org

Big Chair gathering: meet the artists
2024-05-03 14:30 - 15:30
Join us as we gather to introduce the newest Message of Hope painting on the cemetery’s famous Big Chair.
This informal gathering at 2:30pm on May 3 outside the cemetery gates will introduce the painter of this installation and recent artists, as well as allow us to honor a recent Big Chair artist who died last month.
All are welcome. Come meet the artist, Elizabeth Marik, and previous artist, Heather, who painted the chair with her son, Aiden, who died in last month.

From the sign on the chair:
This spring, for the season following the vernal equinox, our Big Chair painter is the artist Elizabeth Marik. The spring chair design includes flowers associated with death and mourning such as marigolds, daisies, lilies, and a white rose.

“Together, they remind us of life emerging. The watery seat invokes the Ganges, and doorways to the afterlife such as the river Styx,” Marik said.

Marik’s design was previously featured in the second Message of Hope installation in December 2023 along with two other painters, Michele L., and Evelyn M. The candles they depicted were in honor of the annual Worldwide Compassionate Friends Candle Lighting Ceremony and included their motto: “We Need Not Walk Alone.” Compassionate Friends supports families who have lost children of any age.

The first Message of Hope was painted by Heather and Aiden in the fall of 2023 and featured a lighthouse in honor of suicide awareness after they lost a close relative to suicide. This month we join in honoring and remembering Aiden, who recently died of suicide. In his honor, the chair now features Aiden’s drawing of Godzilla which he drew for a tattoo he wore. The messages of both Messages of Hope on the Big Chair now become entwined as part of the history of this cemetery.

For more information about our Messages of Hope please inquire in the gatehouse or email: DeathDoula@congressionalcemetery.org
