On Juneteenth morning — Friday, June 19 — the corner of Eagle and Market Streets in downtown Asheville filled with neighbors, artists, and city leaders. By early afternoon, the ninth Echo had been unveiled at the entrance to the YMI Cultural Center: a white oak bench by Kwadwo Som-Pimpong of Crafted Glory.
The bench is directly inspired by traditional Ashanti chief stools. As the interpretive signage beside it reads, it “represents the soul of the people and suggests that community wisdom resides in collective gathering.” The oak came from Bee Tree Hardwoods — a tree that fell in Swannanoa during Hurricane Helene and was carried downstream by the floodwaters. That wood, swept from one of the hardest-hit communities, now lives permanently at one of the most storied corners in the African American community of Western North Carolina.
The unveiling was presented in partnership with The Block and the City of Asheville. The YMI Cultural Center — commissioned in 1893 as The Young Men’s Institute — is the oldest African American cultural center in the United States, and the surrounding district is the heart of Black Asheville. The project is part of Boosting The Block, a City of Asheville initiative supported by the Mellon Foundation’s Monuments Project.
Within minutes of the unveiling, the bench was doing exactly what it was made to do — holding toddlers, neighbors, and at least one very pleased terrier.
The bench is free to visit anytime at 39 S Market St. If you go, sit a while — that’s the point.