The William H. Gray III Memorial Foundation, in partnership with Amtrak and Monument Lab, is conducting an Open Call for Artist Ideas to envision and build a monumental “living memorial” to Congressman Gray’s legacy and values. The memorial will be situated within the great hall of Gray 30th Street Station, the historic train depot in Philadelphia that engages over 100,000 people each day. The memorial process is an opportunity to create a new, iconic landmark for the city and its main train station gateway.

In 2014, the late Congressman William H. Gray III—a Philadelphia-area political leader, international statesman, and pastor who was deeply committed to civil rights and social justice around the globe—was honored through federal legislation with the renaming of Philadelphia's iconic train depot to the William H. Gray III 30th Street Station. Congressman Gray represented Pennsylvania’s second Congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives between 1979 and 1991. He rose to leadership as Chair of the House Budget Committee and was then elected House Majority Whip, the third highest ranking position in the House, becoming the nation’s highest-ranking African-American elected official at the time.

As a part of these federal renaming efforts, plans to create and dedicate a memorial in the station were outlined but not fulfilled. The William H. Gray III Memorial Foundation was founded with the focus of constructing a memorial at the station through the Living Legacy Memorial Project while supporting causes in line with Congressman Gray’s values of civic engagement, social justice, and community empowerment.

The process for the commemorative project begun with an open question posed to the thousands of people who spend time in this station each day: What does LEGACY mean to you? Responses are gathered in the form of brief personal definitions or short poems, and they will be collected by Monument Lab. The responses are reviewed, shared with the Gray Foundation and Amtrak, and continue to inform the Open Call for Artist Ideas.

What does LEGACY mean to you? 

 Following the Open Call for Artist Ideas, the Foundation will invite up to five artists to prepare final proposals for in-person presentations. Finalists will be compensated with a stipend of $4,000 plus travel expenses for the creation of a full proposal. 

In 2025, a Memorial Advisory Committee will review proposals and, informed by community and commuter feedback, deliver final recommendations to the Gray Foundation. Based on the Committee’s recommendations, the Foundation will make a final decision. The budget for the selected project is $1,250,000 in addition to an artist fee of $250,000. The memorial is slated to be dedicated in 2026.

Please contact [email protected] with any questions regarding the Open Call for Artist Ideas.

Memorial Advisory Committee:

• Marland Buckner (President & CEO, Shockoe Institute; Board of Directors, William H. Gray III Memorial Foundation) 
• Dejay Duckett (Vice President of Curatorial Services, African American Museum in Philadelphia)
• Jamie Gauthier (City Councilmember for the Third District, City of Philadelphia) 
• Valerie Gay (Chief Cultural Officer, City of Philadelphia)
• Kathleen Greene (Chief Audience Officer, Grounds For Sculpture)
• Rev. Dr. Darron McKinney Sr. (Senior Pastor, Bright Hope Baptist Church)
• Stephan Nicoleau (Founder, Astra Project; General Partner, FullCycle; Board of Directors, Monument Lab)
• Jason Schupbach (Dean, Westphal College of Media Arts and Design, Drexel University)
• Sharon Tepper (Director, Infrastructure Planning - New York, Gateway Program, Amtrak)
• Salamishah Tillet (Henry Rutgers Professor of African American Studies and Creative Writing, Rutgers University; Contributing Critic at Large, The New York Times)
• Will Toms (Chief Creative Officer, REC Philly)
• Angela Val (President & Chief Executive Officer, Visit Philadelphia)

Curatorial Team: Paul Farber and Yolanda Wisher
Project Managers: Gina Ciralli and Nico Rodriguez
Monument Lab Team: Kerry Bickford, Kristen Giannantonio, Florie Hutchinson, Sue Mobley, Aubree Penney, Julie Rhoad, Bella Rodriguez, Dina Paola Rodriguez, and Elliot Waters-Fleming
Design: William Roy Hodgson and Creative Repute
Documentation: Steve Weinik
Monument Lab Board of Directors: Lola Bakare (Secretary), Ellery Roberts Biddle, Amari Johnson, Monica O. Montgomery (Vice Chair), Stephan Nicoleau (Treasurer), Michelle Angela Ortiz, Samala, Kirk Savage, and Tiffany Tavarez (Chair)

Gray 30th Street Station is supported by the William H. Gray III Memorial Foundation, in partnership with Amtrak.