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The Monuments Project

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The Ireichō, a sacred book that records the names of over 125,000 persons of Japanese ancestry who were unjustly imprisoned during World War II. On the wall behind the book are sotoba (wooden markers) with the names of and soil from each incarceration site. The installation is at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, California. Photo: Carlos Jaramillo for the Mellon Foundation

Monuments for our moment

Walk through any town or city and you’ll see them: statues, plaques, street signs, and other markers of memory. Each tells a complex story about the people that put them up—who and what was valued, and what was deemed worth remembering.

Do our monuments reflect the values we hold today? How might we tell more complete stories? Can we imagine new ways to honor our past?

Launched in 2020, the Monuments Project is a bold, multi-year effort to bring communities together and breathe new life into our nation’s commemorative landscape. By funding commemorative projects that add to the stories we tell about our history and expand the ways we choose to remember, we hope to help create a richer, more complete picture of America and its history.

In motion, a sacred stone is tethered to a trailer that is hitched to a truck.

l'zhúje'waxóbe, the Sacred Red Rock, in transport to Council Grove, Kansas. Photo: Mike Gunnoe for University of Kansas Endowment Association

A group of workers stands on steel scaffolding while removing a plague from a large rock

The plaque removal from l'zhúje'waxóbe, the Sacred Red Rock, when it was located at Robinson Park in Lawrence, Kansas. Photo: Mike Gunnoe for University of Kansas Endowment Association

Through the Monuments Project, Mellon funds work that:

Sparks interest in lesser-known chapters of our history and the work that goes into preserving it, including:

Public art, archives, publicly engaged research, and other cultural works that expand the stories we tell in public spaces.
Projects that deepen our understanding and appreciation of commemorative spaces through teaching, curricula, and audience engagement.

Invites more people into the process of actively shaping and caring for the commemorative landscape, by:

Giving residents, descendants, and other participants a say in how their histories are told and honored in public spaces.
Supporting local governments and organizations with tools and resources to advance community-led discussions and decision-making processes that shape monuments, memorials, and markers.
Sharing best practices to help people across the country participate in commemorative work.

Expands our understanding of what monuments can look, feel, and sound like, including:

Permanent and temporary commemorations—historical markers, place names, art installations, and more.
Ephemeral commemorations in public spaces—performance art, cultural practices, and digital technologies that activate memories and foster enduring engagement.
Reimaginings of existing commemorations—updates that help us broaden our understanding of American history.

A man sits in a chair with a laptop on his lap while another man stands in front of him while using a virtual reality headset

idris brewster (seated) and Micah Milner using the technology created by Kinfolk, the nonprofit they lead. Photo: Stefan Ruiz for Mellon Foundation

Two laptops sit on a white table next to a virtual reality headset

Kinfolk technology is used to imagine histories in real spaces. Photo: Stefan Ruiz for Mellon Foundation

The following projects fall outside the scope of this initiative:

Projects situated in primarily private spaces and institutions.
Community-based archives, oral history projects, and other localized public memory work without a direct connection to nationally significant histories.
Community development and preservation projects that are not connected to monuments or memorials.
Festivals, parades, and other celebratory events that are not connected to a deep cultural or historical practice.

Although we occasionally release targeted requests for ideas, most proposals are accepted by invitation only. Find more detailed information on our FAQ page.

Initiatives receiving grants to date

Beyond Granite
Beyond Granite, a set of six dynamic art installations on the National Mall curated by Monument Lab and executed in partnership with the National Capital Planning Commission, Trust for the National Mall, and the National Park Service that explored expressions of a more inclusive, equitable, and representative commemorative landscape in the nation’s public square.

Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument
Support for a national network of organizations—including the Emmett Till Interpretive Center (ETIC) in Mississippi and the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley Institute in Illinois—that are working to interpret and commemorate Emmett Till’s life and legacy.

The Great Wall of Los Angeles
An expansion of one of the country’s largest monuments to interracial harmony through civic engagement and muralist training, created by artist Judy Baca and SPARC (Social and Public Art Resource Center).

A wooden box of soft pastels arranged in groups by color

Pastels in the studio of artist and muralist Judy Baca, creator of The Great Wall of Los Angeles. Photo: Emily Shur for Mellon Foundation

The artist Judy Baca stands in her studio wearing a white paint splattered canvas jumpsuit and metal bracelets

Artist and muralist Judy Baca. Photo: Emily Shur for Mellon Foundation

Irei: National Monument for the WWII Japanese American Incarceration
A multifaceted monument memorializing the more than 125,000 individuals of Japanese ancestry who were unjustly imprisoned in US Army, Department of Justice, and War Relocation Authority (WRA) camps during World War II.

Kinfolk
The development of a groundbreaking app and educational resource, Kinfolk, that features augmented-reality monuments to underrepresented historical figures.

Kootéeyaa Deiyí Totem Pole Trail
Commissioning of Native artists in several southeast Alaska communities to create ten totem poles honoring Alaska Native presence and persistence along the two-mile public waterfront of downtown Juneau, Alaska.

Monument Lab Re:Generation
A national regranting program created by Philadelphia’s Monument Lab that provides funding to teams working on public art, public history, and public humanities projects in communities across the country.

Monumental Perspectives
A three-year collaboration between the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Snap Inc. to develop augmented-reality monuments and related public programming led by local artists and technologists that celebrate the region’s diversity.

Multiple Commemorative Projects Across the US
Nine grants totaling $25 million to local governments to advance publicly oriented initiatives aimed at transforming commemorative spaces and landscapes in Asheville, North Carolina; Boston, Massachusetts; Chicago, Illinois; Columbus, Ohio; Denver, Colorado; Los Angeles, California; Portland, Oregon; Providence, Rhode Island; and San Francisco, California.

The Now and Forever Windows
The installation of The Now and Forever Windows, transformative racial justice-themed stained-glass windows created by artist Kerry James Marshall, replacing windows depicting Confederate leaders Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson at Washington National Cathedral.