What People Are Saying.
“Monuments to Movements is blazing its own trail by shining a light on accomplishments within the feminist strategic arena. Their discovery session was extremely impressive and attendees gleaned insights from the diverse audience’s dialogue of wide-reaching ideas, perspectives and POVs.”
— Wendy Doyle, United WE President & CEO
“Monuments to Movements creates an important dialogue about who and what leads to social change. Even though there are inevitable leaders of movements, they still usually work with the support of others. The work of those who are less visible in the public eye are pivotal players in getting the work done. That behind-the-scenes work needs to be recognized as essential to the success of movements. Through collective action people make strides, so collective credit is necessary. By working collaboratively through Monuments to Movements those involved will feed off of each other's ideas and talents in order to create a variety of tributes that celebrate the full and complex reality of all who work to make a difference in the world.”
— Michelle Duster, professor, activist, author: Ida B. the Queen: The Extraordinary Life and Legacy of Ida B. Wells
"M2M is an initiative that illuminates through monuments and innovative design processes the value and power of the collective. For the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA), culture change work requires transformational partnerships and we are proud to be a part of this one."
— Kristina Mevs-Apgar, Culture Change Director, National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA)
“‘Monuments to Movements’ honors, celebrates, invests in, and understands our collective actions to be our greatest accomplishments. I believe in valuing the dignity and human potential of each individual. And I live in awe of what we can achieve together—in community, as part of something larger than any one person. M2M understands it is both the gift of the human being and the sustained power and practice of social movements. I am honored to be part of M2M's innovative, ambitious work, vision and practice.”
— Ai-Jen Poo, Founder/ Executive Director, National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA)
“I was privileged to participate in an M2M program and experience their deep listening and collective brainstorming strategies through which we imagined public space a site of testimony, healing, and empowerment. Led by two of the most important thought leaders and activists in the field, M2M makes a new intersectional history visible through feminist values and tactics. It challenges our notion of what a monument can and should be at a turning point in monument history.”
— Melissa Hilliard Potter, public artist, curator, writer, professor, Columbia College Chicago
“Now more than ever it is important to rediscover the meaning of collective action and interaction. Monuments tend to celebrate individuals rather than groups but no one stands alone. This is a unique opportunity to rethink the meaning of commemoration and indicate a way forward. I feel privileged to be part of this project. I can't stress enough the impact this is having on my professional and personal sphere.”
— Michele Robecchi, writer, curator and editor, Phaidon Press
“The M2M project is an exhilarating vision that challenges the legacy of enshrinement that discriminates and diminishes under the banner of ‘legacy’ ‘tradition’ and ‘cannon.’ M2M moves beyond the goal of ‘toppling’ this history; it builds a foundation of creative, inclusive, and collaborative practices designed to move us toward and builds a just legacy.”
— Tricia Rose, Brown University, Author: Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America
“Thank you so much, M2M, for creating this extraordinarily rich and intensely human interaction between a score of people variously engaged in the production of the most diverse forms of ideas and public artwork who otherwise would never have met. The premise you developed was wonderfully creative and powerful as it opens a conversation no one else is having or ready to have, yet. You enable each of us to speak from deep inside ourselves, warmly, spontaneously, with deeply flowing thought, full of surprises, humour, even quirkiness, and, yes, pain. The result will be the emergence of beautifully layered tapestries of cultural work, the creation of new communities of extremely nuanced and meaningful experiences and movements. For me it was particularly inspiring to have been invited from across the ocean to immerse myself in what was essentially a vivifying, progressive and inclusionary feminist discourse. Long after I will have forgotten who had said or done exactly what, I will still feel the music of beating hearts and the illumination of pulsating brains. We live and create not by bread alone, but by imagination, hope, love and artistry. Give us more of this. Monuments to Movements.”
— Albie Sachs, Former Justice, South Africa Constitutional Court, ANC Lead Lawyer
“Monuments to Movements (M2M) undertakes the crucial work of troubling deeply entrenched ideas about art, politics, and identity in public space. This is essential work as we labor together to tackle structural inequities and harness the power of art in public space to create a more equitable world. M2M workshops are shaped by feminist practice, honoring the voices of all who are present and providing space for stories and experiences that are too frequently minimized—or even silenced—in favor of hegemonic narratives.”
— Heather Shirey, Professor of Art History, University of St. Paul, Co-Director, Urban Art Mapping Project
“M2M is right on time. Collaborative, grassroots and forward thinking, M2M is cultivating a rich soil where nuanced ways of thinking about monuments—and culture more broadly—can emerge. The facilitators insist on deep dives, collectiving thinking practices and a diversity of inputs. And in doing so they are nurturing the groundwork that we all need right now.”
— Red Tremmel, Senior Professor, Tulane University, artist/historian/professor/queer cultural activist
“Like M2M, I’m passionate about exploring expanded visions for what monuments can look like beyond lone heroes being lofted on pedestals. M2M is doing this in an innovative, powerful and rigorous way and process.”
— Amanda Williams, artist and architect
Image captions: George Floyd Square, Ph: Urban Art Mapping 2021; Installation in building during Breonna Taylor protests, downtown Louisville, KY,, Ph: Neysa Page-Lieberman 2020; George Floyd Square, Ph: Urban Art Mapping 2021.