SALISBURY — The City of Salisbury honored late Mayor Karen Alexander by unveiling the “Forever for All” Karen Alexander Legacy projects on March 4, which happens to be her birthday.
Alexander was the Salisbury mayor for nine years with a term as a council member before that. She died in December 2024 after a battle with cancer.
The city hosted guests from around the state to a ceremony honoring Alexander at the recently acquired Salisbury Depot on Wednesday. The program started with Mayor Tamara Sheffield welcoming the audience and Dr. Vergel Lattimore, president of Hood Theological Seminary, delivered an invocation.
Council member Susan Kluttz gave a reflection on Alexander and her contributions to the city. She listed her contributions to the city from her architectural career to her dedication to public service. One of the primary projects that Kluttz highlighted was the ownership of the Salisbury Depot, which was a passion project for Alexander.
“Although her health was deteriorating and it became physically difficult for her, she continued to fight for what she knew was important for the city, the citizens and the region,” Kluttz said. “Her integrity, care and whole-hearted devotion to the city she loved helped create vast improvements and results that would benefit the community for years to come.”
Hannah Jacobson, Salisbury planning and neighborhood director, presented the details of the legacy projects that are underway to honor Alexander.
“This project has given me an opportunity to revisit her life through reading op-eds that she wrote, interviews that she gave, memories written about her after she died. It has made me feel like I had a little bit more time with her, and for that, I am truly grateful,” Jacobson said.
The first project is a memorial garden that will be located at McCurdy Park outside the Salisbury Depot. There will be a space in the center where a sculpture from the annual sculpture show will be installed. Alexander was not a fan of naming spaces after people, but the garden will include a plaque honoring her legacy.
On the plaque, there is a quote from Methodist theologian John Wesley that City Clerk Connie Snyder found in Alexander’s desk written in her hand.
“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can,” the quote reads.
With the construction planned for the Depot, the city wanted to find a more immediate memorial for Alexander. The Public Arts Commission has been working with artist Max Dowdle on his “Paint NC: 100 Murals in 100 Counties” project for the past two years, and they decided to take the opportunity to dedicate another memorial to Alexander.
The proposed mural design depicts hands bridging together with people walking across, and it includes a subtle nod to Alexander with the bracelet of pearls on the left arm. The mural will be located on the side of the Piedmont Players building off East Fisher Street and is anticipated to be completed this summer.
“Something I once read said that ‘the life’s work of an architect is to leave love notes for their community,’ and that’s what Mayor Alexander did through her entire professional and civic career. She saw the potential for beauty in all places and all people, and so, with these legacy projects, it’s our turn to leave a love note to our dead missed mayor Karen Alexander,” Jacobson said.
Following the memorial presentation, Sheffield brought Alexander’s husband Henry Alexander and her son Daniel Alnazan to accept the last honor for Karen Alexander, a posthumous induction to the Order of the Long Leaf Pine.
Alanazan started with a tribute to his mother, quoting a letter written between his wife and her 27 years ago, which included a quote from artist Frederick Franck.
“The most visible creators I know of are those artists whose medium is life itself. The ones who express the inexpressible without brush, camera, clay or guitar. They neither paint nor sculpt; their medium is being. Whatever their presence touches has increased life. They see and don’t have to draw. They are the artists of being alive,” Alnazan said.
He recognized her dedication and care to serving the city and state but beyond that her strength of character.
“(This award) recognizes a life well lived. A life lived authentically. A life lived in service of something larger than oneself. North Carolina is more beautiful, more thoughtful and more connected because she was in it,” Alnazan said.
Henry Alexander, Karen Alexander’s husband for 37 years, thanked the city and state for recognizing her impact.
“All of this is truly meaningful for our family, that our city, our county and our state saw the value in Karen. She was just an amazing woman,” Henry Alexander said. “Karen would have said, ‘I didn’t do it for anything except to make a difference.’”
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