Chicago to address 'racial history' through public art project

The city intends to “address the hard truths of Chicago’s racial history” by reviewing “memorials, monuments and other art” in a first-of-its-kind project that seeks to achieve “racial healing and historical reckoning,” according to a press release from Mayor Lightfoot’s office.

Developed in partnership with DCASE, the Chicago Park District, and Chicago Public Schools (CPS), the effort will explore the “unacknowledged” and “forgotten history associated with the City’s various municipal art collections.”

The project will have four main objectives, including: 

• Cataloguing monuments and public art on City or sister agency property;

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

• Making recommendations on any 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. 

Confronting Chicago's racial history

“This project represents the first step in a deliberative and long-needed process by which we as a city can assess the many monuments and memorials across our neighborhoods and communities,” said Mayor Lightfoot. Along the way, she continued, it will help to create a “platform to channel our city’s dynamic civic energy” and uplift the “stories of our city’s residents.”

By serving as a “vehicle to address the hard truths of Chicago’s racial history," the project will help develop a framework for memorializing Chicago's "true and complete history."

It will begin with the assembly of an advisory committee that will be co-chaired by DCASE Commissioner Mark Kelly, Landmarks Illinois President & CEO Bonnie McDonald, and Director/Chief Curator of Jane Addams Hull-House Museum Jennifer Scott.

Artists, historians, and elected officials from all over Chicago will serve as co-chairs.

Idenfitying 'problematic' artwork

The committee will review identify public artworks that may be problematic and recommend next steps for the existing collection, which will include speculative proposals by committee artists.

The work of the advisory committee will be largely informed by an artist-led community engagement process, which will create opportunities for public engagement and dialogue around the future of the City’s memorials and monuments.

The City will also commission a series of temporary public artworks that focus on a broader range of topics around COVID-19, inequality, and racial reconciliation. Artwork development will begin this summer and will be informed by ongoing conversations with stakeholders and members of the community. 

Using feedback collected through the upcoming public art and engagement efforts, the City, along with various stakeholder groups, will create a plan to erect a series of new monuments that equitably acknowledge Chicago’s shared history. The project aims to have a final set of recommendations for addressing existing and new memorials and monuments by the end of 2020.