Unit Overview
What are monuments and why do they exist? Monuments are placeholders of history. They tell stories, communicate a message or honor people, places, or events. In this unit, students will think critically about the art that occupies our neighborhoods and city centers. Students will learn how to engage with monuments and the public art pieces in their own communities and interpret the meaning behind the structures that they might pass by everyday. Students will also make connections to the events in history that they have studied in their classroom that are memorialized by monuments. They will examine how these monuments represent moments of the past. In addition, students will understand that monuments often represent an incomplete history and exclude a diverse range of voices and perspectives. Students will consider who or what is not being represented in monuments and should be. What are important people, objects, or events that should be recognized in NYC based on their own experiences and understandings?
Through looking at a range of contemporary artists, students will see how artists represent the stories and lives of people whose actions and values should be recognized through public monuments. Contemporary artists are using monuments to engage the public in important conversations around particular social justice issues. Students will then be challenged to propose a monument for the city of New York. They will consider the message or meaning behind their monuments as well as the location in which their monument will be placed. Their final projects will include a model of the monument made from papier mache or plaster as well as a painted backdrop of the location. Through this project, students will investigate the function of monuments as public art today, and design alternative monuments that convey what they believe should be shared with their communities.
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