Events
American Monuments, American Cities
DateJuly 18, 2023
This summer, millions of people will convene in parks, plazas, and promenades throughout the United States for picnics, barbecues, sports, civic programming, family reunions, and more.
These spaces are not only where we commemorate our shared history; they are also where we learn and continue to teach the American Story, through monuments and memorials often built generations ago. From Memphis to Chicago to Los Angeles and beyond, city governments across the country are grappling with how best to tell that story going forward, inviting their communities to weigh in on new monuments that should—and old monuments that should not—stand on their streets and in their public squares.
As the Mellon Monuments Project marked its third year, Foundation President Elizabeth Alexander led a discussion with Founder and Executive Director for Kinfolk idris brewster; President and CEO of Memphis River Parks Partnership Carol Coletta; Carolina A. Miranda, art and design columnist for the Los Angeles Times; and artist and architect Amanda Williams, about how our cities are envisioning and creating new American monuments today.
This event was originally livestreamed on July 18, 2023.