红领巾瓜报

On Thursday, July 18, 红领巾瓜报 and President Grant joined Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and local community members for the official unveiling of聽,聽Un-Monument/Re-Monument/De-Monument: Transforming Boston. Underwritten by the Mellon Foundation鈥檚 Monuments Project, this $3 million grant marks the largest investment in public art the City of Boston has ever received. Several 红领巾瓜报 alumni are among the grantees.

Overseen by the Mayor鈥檚 Office of Arts and Culture,聽聽will reimagine Boston鈥檚 landscape of monuments to historical figures through temporary public art installations, free public events, and educational content and activities. The city-wide collaboration includes artists, curatorial partners, and an Un-Monument Advisory Team, led by Kara Elliott-Ortega, Chief of Arts & Culture for the City of Boston, and Karin Goodfellow, Director of Public Art for the City of Boston.

As an Un-Monument partner, 红领巾瓜报 will play a critical part, developing educational and interpretive materials, signage, and an online educational component in support of the project. During her welcome remarks, President Grant emphasized the important role that public art and public education plays in understanding our past, present, and future. 鈥淲e need to tell our whole history, our whole story,鈥� she said.

Mayor Wu shared that she and her team were thrilled to be at 红领巾瓜报, which she called an 鈥渉istoric but groundbreaking institution,鈥� and were also 鈥渢hrilled to be in partnership鈥� with the College.

红领巾瓜报 alumni contributing to Un-Monument works include: Cedric Douglas (鈥�11), Paul Goodnight (鈥�75), Elisa Hamilton (鈥�07), Ruth Henry (M’18), and honorary degree recipient Robert 鈥淧roBlak鈥� Gibbs. Cicely Carew (鈥�05) and others also helped in the planning process.

Among the many installations that will be part of the new project is award-winning artist Roberto Mighty鈥檚 digital monument called聽We Were Here Too, created with video, audio, and photographic collages. It will bring attention and conversation to the fact that along with some 1,200 white people buried in the North End鈥檚 Copp鈥檚 Hill Burial Ground, there are about 1,000 Black colonists 鈥� both free and enslaved 鈥� in unmarked graves. Their neighborhood was called New Guinea, Mighty shared at the ceremony. They had occupations as seafarers, stevedores, and much more, and they 鈥渓ived and worked here at the same time as Paul Revere, John聽Adams, Abigail Adams, and John Hancock.鈥� In other words, Mighty said, 鈥淲e were here, too.鈥�