City of Chicago to Receive $6.8 Million from Mellon Foundation to Fund Creation of New Chicago Monuments


Monuments and memorials have become a focal point for conversation, protest, and activism in the city of Chicago.

In response, the city has created a committee to review the city’s collection of monuments and recommend solutions.

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The Time Is Now

About the Chicago Monuments Project

The Chicago Monuments Project intends to grapple with the often unacknowledged – or forgotten – history associated with the City’s various municipal art collections and provides a vehicle to address the hard truths of Chicago’s racial history, confront the ways in which that history has and has not been memorialized, and develop 
a framework for marking public space that elevates new ways to memorialize Chicago’s history more equitably and accurately.

The project has four main objectives, including: 

  • Cataloging monuments and public art on City or Park District property; 

  • Appointing an advisory committee to determine which pieces warrant attention or action; 

  • Making recommendations for new monuments or public art that could be commissioned; and 

  • Creating a platform for the public to engage in a civic dialogue about Chicago’s history. 

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The Advisory Committee

The Chicago Monuments Project Advisory Committee is a group of community leaders, artists, architects, scholars, curators, and city officials who are dedicating their time, experience, and expertise to lead this effort. 
This broad coalition will engage with a wide range of communities and world views to ask questions and bring the perspectives required to do this work on behalf of all Chicago’s people.

Meet The Committee
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Process

Steps For Reviewing Chicago’s Public Monuments

Engaging Chicago’s diverse communities in a conversation about public monuments ensures an improved outcome for all people.

1

The committee releases a list of monuments for public discussion.

2

The committee asks for public feedback on the list of monuments via the website and a series of public programs.

3

The committee invites proposals for new work and monuments to be developed.

4

The committee reviews public input.

5

The committee publishes their recommendations on the existing monuments and new work to be developed