Monument Lab’s Remediate studies and engages recent public debate and civic action around the monumental landscape of U.S. cities. Beginning in Fall 2018, Remediate operates as a national fellows program and a media hub for writing, audio/video projects, and civic data that can help critically understand the monuments we have inherited and help unearth the next generation of monuments, especially around themes of social justice and solidarity.
Remediate supports individuals’ local, ongoing projects around the country that address long term inequities in monument building and propose new creative approaches to public art and history. The term “remediate” refers to a form of critical engagement, often used by environmental practitioners, to diagnose and take steps to address toxic materials embedded within geographic contexts. We extend the term toward historic narratives and practices of exclusion – along lines of race, gender, sexuality, class, ability, and national status – as way to respond to the movement growing across the country.