Virginia Indian Monument "Mantle"

Dedicated on April 17, 2018, at a site selected by the Virginia Indian Commemorative Commission and the Commonwealth of Virginia on the grounds of the State Capitol, the monument by sculptor Alan Michelson recognizes and honors the culture, contributions and significance of Virginia's first inhabitants--Native Americans. "Mantle" combines four integrated spiral elements to create the shape of a nautilus.

Artist Alan Michelson, a Mohawk member of Six Nations of the Grand River created Mantle which he describes, "Mantle requires the visitor to neither look up nor look down, but invites one to enter--from the east--and participate in it. It is not conceived as a static monument to be venerated but an active one to be experienced by moving off the everyday grid and into the American Indian circle".