With AR, you can just build your own monuments and place them wherever you want.

Kinfolk Executive Director idris Brewster (left); Chief Strategy Officer Micah Milner, right. 

Two people in a sunlit room. One person with a beard is perched on a stool; the other is standing next to the seated person. On the wall are framed works of art showing different figures.

New Technology Opens Doors to Meet People and Places of Our Past

The Wideman Davis Dance Company performs “Migratuse Ataraxia” in Alabama in 2020. Photo: Clark Scott

 A single dancer performs in Wideman Davis Dance’s “Migratuse Ataraxia.” They are raising their arms and stepping their right foot forward. A multimedia projection is displayed behind them.

Exploring the Histories of Black Sites

Irei: National Monument for the WWII Japanese American Incarceration Launch

The Irei Names Project is inspired by the Manzanar Ireitō or “Soul Consoling Tower,” a monument built by people incarcerated at the Manzanar camp in Inyo County, California during WWII to honor those that would never return home from the camps. Photo: courtesy of the Shinjo Nagatomi Collection, Manzanar National Historic Site

In black and white, a line of Asian individuals of all ages stand in front of a pillar. In big black letters, three Japanese Kanji characters read "Soul Consoling Tower." A young child looks back towards the camera.

A Multimodal Memorial Remembers Japanese American WWII Incarceration

Sneak Peek: A Tribute to Fannie Lou Hamer

I feel like we’re at the beginning of a new evolution of how we’re going to be thinking about monuments of the future.

The Future of the Public Square

Opera singer Marian Anderson performs on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC, 1939. Photo: Getty Images / Hulton Archive / Stringer.

Opera singer Marian Anderson performs on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Beyond Granite: Civic Engagement is Monumental

Jackson Ward in Richmond, Virginia was the nation's first Black urban district. A historically important home belonging to the ward's first known Black homeowner was condemned and moved to a nearby plantation in the 1950's. The JXN Project is working to recreate the home as a national historic landmark and community space. Photo: Mark Gormus for ”Richmond Times-Dispatch“

In an open field, a truck tows a fully constructed house on a flatbed.

The Legacy and Home of Jackson Ward’s First Black Homeowner

Presidential Initiatives

A commitment to transform the nation’s commemorative landscape by supporting public projects that help represent the complexity of American stories.

The Monuments Project

How can we transform our commemorative landscape so that it accurately conveys complexity of our history and the inspiration that is possible in public spaces?

EA Monuments and Memory quote

Photo: Sharif Hamza for Mellon Foundation

Headshot of Elizabeth Alexander

The cover page of the National Monument Audit (2021). Courtesy of Monument Lab.

monument lab hero

The National Monument Audit, published in September 2021 by Monument Lab, is a report on the commemorative landscape, released at a pivotal moment in the national conversation about monuments.

Interrogating Our Monument Landscape

What will our nation’s first monument audit reveal?

Karyn Olivier, “The Battle Is Joined, 2017” in Vernon Park, Philadelphia. Photo: Mike Reali/Mural Arts Philadelphia

A 20-foot-high mirrored monument commemorates a Revolutionary War battle.

Originally livestreamed on September 29, 2021. This event included Mellon Foundation President Elizabeth Alexander and Dr. Paul Farber.

Monumental Conversations: What we found when we analyzed America’s monuments

Apprentice carver Lee Burkhart (Tlingit), pictured, helps artist Nicholas Galanin (Lingít/Unanga) create a totem pole that will feature crests of the Kaagwaantaan clan. Photo: Bethany Sonsini Goodrich/Sealaska Heritage

An Indigenous carver is using a tool to shave wood from a large piece of wood that will be shaped to be a totem pole.

Raising Indigenous Art and Stories in Alaska’s Capital

Signage prompts visitors to the site to consider the questions of commemoration of the park. Photo: David Loewenstein

In a clearing, a tall red boulder sits on a pedestal. The boulder is almost as tall as the trees around it. Posted in the ground in front of the boulder, a sign reads "Should this park be named for Charles Robinson? robinsonpark1929.com"

The Kaw Nation Reclaims a Sacred Stone

“The New York Times” on The Monuments Project, the largest initiative in Mellon's 50-year history. It supports the creation of new monuments, as well as the relocation or rethinking of existing ones.

Media NYTimes

Mellon Foundation to Spend $250 Million to Reimagine Monuments

I think about how difficult it can be to get into some archives, and that is the exact opposite of what we want for our collection,

Constructed in 1838 and now being restored as the future home of the AFRO Archives, the Upton Mansion is the last example of a Greek revival country house in the city of Baltimore. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Photo courtesy of AFRO Archives

In black and white, a historical home in Baltimore 

A Homecoming for the AFRO Archives of Black News and Culture

A statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia, was a site of protests in 2020 following the death of George Floyd in police custody. The statue was removed in 2021 along with other confederate monuments across the city. Photo: Scott Photography

A Confederate memorial depicts a war general. The bottom of the monument is covered in graffiti and markings. 

Monuments and Memory

A statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia, was a site of protests in 2020 following the death of George Floyd in policy custody. The statue was removed in 2021 along with other confederate monuments across the city. Photo: Scott Photography

A large statue of a confederate general is covered in markings and graffiti. 

Artists as Catalysts

Artists as Catalysts Navigation Image

Beyond Incarceration

A side profile of a Black poet who is wearing glasses and a hat with a feather hat pin.

Civic Engagement

Civic engagement navigation image - A large crowd of people who are far away and anonymous

Evolving Higher Education

A vertical image of an Indigenous person who is sitting on a chair in front of a backdrop.

Expanding Public Knowledge

Expanding Public Knowledge Navigation Image

Multivocality

Five people stand together in a group photo. They are laughing and smiling.

Power of the Word

Five colorful neon signs hang on the wall with messages that include, "Freedom cannot wait," "Brown owned," and "America is for Dreamers."

Public Places‚ Public Stories

A group of Indigenous Maskoke people stand and sit in the wooden frame of a structure in a woods

Puerto Rico and Its Diaspora

In a vertical image, a black leather vest is adorned with colorful pins across the front of it. Embroidery on the vest reads: "Felícitas "La Prieta" Méndez" 