Reimagining Monuments: Contemporary Interventions in Public Space

Motivated by national movements and protests associated with Black Lives Matter, and the pushback and removal of Confederate iconography, the Monuments, Markers and Memory symposium series critically explores power, politics and activism around public monuments and memorials. This four-part series unites artists, academics, activists, politicians, organizations, institutions, and local communities to address public memory, heritage and memorialization and promote historical justice, social equity and legislative action.

In the first event, associated with the University of South Florida Contemporary Art Museum’s exhibition ‘Marking Monuments’, contemporary artists and leading practitioners in the public art field will discuss their artistic practice and creative strategies to challenge, erase and transform the dominant histories and symbols to offer reimagined representations for equity in the public realm. Panelists include artists Ariel René Jackson, Karyn Olivier, Joiri Minaya, and John Sims, Patricia Enuji Kim of Monument Lab, with moderator Sarah Howard, USF Curator of Public Art and Social Practice.

This event is funded in part by a Florida Humanities Community Project Grant, in partnership with the University of South Florida Department of Anthropology.