The House that Freedoms Built

The House that Freedoms Built explores the history and legacy of colonialism in the Caribbean, particularly on the island of St. Croix, which was a Danish colony for 200 years before becoming a United States territory. The architectural design and its distinctive motifs are inspired by 18th-century houses built by formerly enslaved people and by the stories of struggle, survival, and resistance that Belle uncovered in her research. Her artistic interpretation of the visual reminders of this history honors communities whose stories may otherwise be forgotten. The House That Freedoms Built invites viewers to learn about this history and reflect on how the legacy of colonization continues to impact social and cultural paradigms today.

The installation contains three white houses with pitched roofs; each roughly 9 feet tall, 8-feet long, and 7-feet wide. Each is a nod to homes found in the town of Frederiksted in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, and more specifically inspired by the shapes of 18th-century houses built by formerly enslaved people of St. Croix. The artist used an architectural embellishment known as fretwork to create the elaborate patterning effect on the structure’s walls and slanted roofs. The designs are carved into the surface, cutting away the negative space. If you touch the structure, you might feel the geometric shapes’ curvature, twisting along the façade. From a distance the structures could look like they are made of lace or lattice.

Images Top and Right: Installation, La Vaughn Belle: The House that Freedoms Built at Cooper Hewitt November 2, 2024 through August 10, 2025

“The House That Freedom Built asks what it means to inhabit freedom, not as an abstract idea, but as something we negotiate every day through space, through our bodies, and through community. Like the sculptures themselves, freedom is not solitary. It is something we build in relation to one another. That also makes it fragile, but fragile in a powerful way, because it requires tending, even devotion.

At Rollins, where the museum sits within a living campus, I imagine the work in conversation with students who are also figuring out how to inhabit themselves in the world intellectually, ethically, and socially. I hope it sparks questions about how we construct a sense of home and how we come to belong to the places and histories that shape us.”

Image: La Vaughn Belle with The House That Freedoms Built
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Powerhouse Arts