Monuments Project Giving Exceeds $150M; Grantmaking Expands to Nine Municipalities

Launched in 2020 as one of the Foundation’s Presidential Initiatives, the Monuments Project builds on Mellon’s efforts to express, elevate, and preserve the stories of those who have often been denied historical recognition, and explores how we might foster a more complete telling of who we are as a nation.

At its core, The Monuments Project aims to create spaces that will be accessible to everyone and promote stories that are not already represented in commemorative spaces. This new approach to giving—a departure from the initiative’s typical grantmaking to nonprofits and organizations doing monuments-related work—will touch a diverse range of regions and expand communities’ understanding of what a monument can be. The nine new grants announced today will support projects in Asheville, North Carolina; Boston, Massachusetts; Chicago, Illinois; Columbus, Ohio; Denver, Colorado; Los Angeles, California; Portland, Oregon; Providence, Rhode Island; and San Francisco, California. Details about each award can be found below.

The addition of these city-centric initiatives brings the total number of grants to 67, many of which are underway and nearing completion. This past April, the Sealaska Heritage Institute unveiled its first set of totem poles in Juneau, Alaska through the  Kootéeyaa Deiyí Totem Pole Project. The Irei Names Monument at the University of Southern California, which honors and memorializes persons of Japanese ancestry who were unjustly incarcerated during World War II, invites visitors to stamp a corresponding Ireichō (“book to console the spirits”) as means of remembrance through the fall of 2023. Meanwhile, in Memphis, the Riverfront Development Corporation’s site-specific A Monument to Listening—which is being designed by acclaimed artist and social innovator Theaster Gates—is set to open in Tom Lee Park this September.

“It seems more important than ever that cities grapple thoughtfully and publicly with the complexities of their histories,” said artist Theaster Gates. “For Memphis, the story of Tom Lee and his valor is unrivaled, yet he has remained an unsung hero. Having this moment to celebrate him at Tom Lee Park gives the entire city the opportunity to remember the tremendous accomplishments made by its citizens.”

“Through the monuments and memorials that mark them, our civic spaces are where many of us first learn about the American Story,” said Elizabeth Alexander, President of the Mellon Foundation. “These grants strengthen new possibilities for commemoration in American cities so we can better understand that story and the history that informs it, and so we can celebrate the collective achievements and extraordinary acts these new monuments and memorials will honor in civic spaces across the country.”

“This generous grant from the Mellon Foundation supports the City's efforts to tell the story of the little known largest mass killing in Los Angeles history and to convey a broader, more universal message,” said Daniel Tarica, General Manager of the City of Los Angeles’s Department of Cultural Affairs. "The new memorial seeks to simultaneously raise public awareness of the 1871 Chinese massacre – in which at least 18 residents of Los Angeles, or roughly ten percent of the city’s Chinese population at the time, were murdered – and to address contemporary concerns about race, intolerance, and violence.”

Grants approved under the direction of the Monuments Project aim to ensure that future generations inherit a commemorative landscape that venerates and reflects the vast, rich complexity of the American story:

Asheville, North Carolina – The City of Asheville will receive funding to reshape Pack Square Plaza through commemorative projects, storytelling and oral history initiatives, and redesigning portions of the plaza to better represent the multicultural histories of Asheville and cultivate a more welcoming space for all. This includes support for construction of Boosting the Block, an effort to establish a stronger connection between the redesigned Pack Square and the Block, an adjacent historic district where Black businesses flourished until the era of urban renewal.

Boston, Massachusetts – The City of Boston will receive funding to launch Un-monument | Re-monument | De-Monument: Transforming Boston, a program aimed to foster dialogue around existing Boston monuments and encourage new narratives through commissioning temporary commemorative art installations and related free programming.

Chicago, Illinois – The City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events will receive funding to support nine projects identified through a call from Chicago Monuments Project, spanning the creation of new commemorative sites, interventions alongside existing monuments, and community engagement initiatives.

Columbus, Ohio – The Department of Development in the City of Columbus will receive funding to support the Reimagining Columbus Initiative, including community engagement work, research, and design studies to inform decisions on city symbols, new public art, and the fate of the Columbus statue, which was removed in 2020.

Denver, Colorado – The City and County of Denver will receive funding to support the Denver Civic Center Monument Project, which includes a monuments audit and community engagement surrounding monuments removed in 2020. It also includes the design and construction of the Greek Theater South Plaza, which will serve as a commemoration of the pivotal 1978 ‘Gang of 19’ protest for disability rights.

Los Angeles, California – The Department of Cultural Affairs in the City of Los Angeles will receive funding to support the construction of a memorial to the victims of the 1871 Chinese Massacre in Los Angeles.

Portland, Oregon – The City of Portland will receive funding to support community engagement, policy development, and implementation regarding the future of five toppled monuments, as well as commemorative efforts within the city at large.

Providence, Rhode Island – The Rhode Island Historical Society will receive funding to support the City of Providence Department of Art, Culture and Tourism in launching the Providence Commemoration Lab, comprising new, temporary projects at Columbus Square, Roger Williams Park, and Public Street Beach, in addition to efforts to expand the City’s Inventory for Commemorative Works––a growing online archive of the city’s commemorative landscape.

San Francisco, California – The San Francisco Art Commission will receive funding to support Pulse Check: Accountability and Activation of Future SF Monuments, an initiative encompassing a racial equity audit of publicly accessible works in the Civic Art Collection, community engagement, and several community-led artist activations in public spaces.

Mellon Foundation President Elizabeth Alexander has been engaged with monuments from the earliest days of her tenure, launching The Monuments Project in 2020. With a renewed focus on our country’s ongoing conversation about who belongs and how they are valued in the American narrative—and in America itself—coupled with the power and influence of monuments and memorials, The Monuments Project demands a powerful artistic and cultural reimagination of our commemorative spaces. Now exceeding $150 million, Mellon’s grantmaking continues to play a significant role in that vital transformation.

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The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty and empowerment that can be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and guided by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive. Learn more at mellon.org.

Ed Winstead
Vice President, Cultural Counsel
ed@culturalcounsel.com

Rachel Roberts
Account Executive, Cultural Counsel
rachel@culturalcounsel.com

Devon Ma
Senior Account Coordinator, Cultural Counsel
devon@culturalcounsel.com

Tonya Bell
Director of Media & Public Relations, Mellon Foundation
trb@mellon.org