Chicago to assess memorials, monuments and art as part of racial healing project

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) announced Wednesday that the city will assess memorials, monuments and art as part of a racial healing and historical reckoning project.

The mayor’s office said in a statement the effort “will grapple with the often unacknowledged – or forgotten – history associated with the City’s various municipal art collections” and “develop a framework for marking public space that elevates new ways to memorialize Chicago’s true and complete 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 Lightfoot. “This effort is not just about a single statue or mural, but how we create a platform to channel our city’s dynamic civic energy to purposefully reflect our values as Chicagoans and uplift the stories of our city’s residents, particularly when it comes to the permanent memorialization of our history and shared heritage.”

The project’s main goals will be to catalogue monuments and public art on city or sister agency property, appoint an advisory committee to decide which pieces require attention or action, make recommendations on any possible commissions for new monuments or public art and create “a platform for the public to engage in a civic dialogue about Chicago’s history.” 

The effort comes amid a lingering debate over statues and monuments across the country dedicated to Confederate figures and others that have racist histories. The conversation was first sparked by national protests over the death of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed in police custody in Minneapolis in May.

Chicago began grappling with its statues after a July clash between demonstrators and police in the downtown part of the city over a monument to Christopher Columbus.

The project will begin later this month with the formation of an advisory committee chaired by Mark Kelly, commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events; Bonnie McDonald, CEO of Landmarks Illinois; and Jennifer Scott, the chief curator of Jane Addams Hull-House Museum. 

“Monuments and memorials have served as overt or subliminal symbols of power crafted through a particular narrative lens. The committee’s imperative work is to listen to Chicagoans through a broad and accessible public engagement process to reckon with public art considered antagonistic to our shared history,” said McDonald.