Beginning in 2022, we launched a nationwide field building initiative organized around a central question: Which stories belong in public? Monument Lab –Re:Generation offers responses through creative and impactful local projects of reclamation that provide a deeper understanding of how monuments live and function in communities.
Edited by Paul M. Farber and Sue Mobley, Monument Lab – Re:Generation features a foreword from Clint Smith, New York Times bestselling author of How the Word is Passed. The book presents case studies that travel across America, highlighting local commemorative campaigns dedicated to advancing public memory. Featuring articles and artwork from the country’s leading monument makers, each project includes a framing essay that provides insights into the varied contexts of location, culture, form, and subject matter.
From Philadelphia to Montgomery, from West Virginia’s mining country to Dinetáh Indigenous lands, Monument Lab – Re:Generation provides innovative, healing, and practical approaches to reckoning with the United States’ unreconciled past and divided present facing our nation.
The Monument Lab – Re:Generation cover features Destiny Folgheraiter (Diné) at the Trail Opening Celebration from the Walking with Dinétah Team. The photo was taken by Marissa Leshnov as a part of the Monument Lab Re:Generation initiative.
Contributors include: Thomas J. Adams, Kareal Amenumey, Sháńdíín Brown, Jonathan Jae-an Crisman, Kristen Dorsey, Aruna D'Souza, Mariluz Franco Ortiz, Jacqui Germain, Grace Sanders Johnson, Dani R. Merriman, Deirdre Cooper Owens, Naima Murphy Salcido, Kirk Savage, Clint Smith, Tsione Wolde-Michael, and Eric Zimmer.
Major support for Monument Lab: Re:Generation is provided by the Mellon Foundation.
Cover Photo:
1) Destiny Folgheraiter (Diné) at the Trail Opening Celebration, August 2022, Four Corners Region, Walking with Dinétah, Monument Lab - Re:Generation (Photo by Marissa Leshnov for Monument Lab).