Watch the full report from WTVR CBS 6 Photojournalist Phillip Waddy in the video player above.
RICHMOND, Va. — A group of volunteers cleaned windows in historic Shockoe Bottom on Saturday to prepare for a new exhibit that will celebrate the legacy and resilience of Black Richmonders from the early 1800s to the 1980s.
"We'll just pick different windows to do," Rebecca Phillips, a program recreation supervisor for Richmond's Parks and Recreation, told the volunteers. "The windows down here, I'm sure you can imagine, some of them are really old. We just want to get off any dirt and debris, just so they're ready to go for the installation."
Student Harvie Wilkinson said he received an email from his high school about the project.
"So I was like, 'Might as well take it up,'" Wilkinson said. "I had nothing to do today, and I thought it would be good to get out here. Get out here and clean some windows."
Phillips said she was grateful for the volunteers.
"They got up in this cold weather out here cleaning glass," Phillips said. "They're doing an amazing job. You got the rest of your day and be like, 'I did my good deed for today.'"
The “Portals” art installation, which will feature 20 large-scale, historic photographs in windows throughout the neighborhood, is slated to open on Feb. 1 for Black History Month.
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