A triptych image featuring three monuments in the City of Portland: (left) "York Bust" by Todd McGrain, Mt. Tabor, (center) "Data Crystal" by Rafik Andol, 1st & 2nd Floors of The Portland Building, and (right) "They Come From Fire" by Jeffrey Gibson, 2022, site-specific installation at Portland Art Museum (Photo by Dale Peterson.)
Why Monuments Matter
The City of Portland is engaged in a national dialogue about public art, history, monuments, and memorials. With support from the Andrew J. Mellon Foundation, the Portland Monuments Project is a multi-year, inclusive public engagement and policy initiative driven by racial justice to:
Project Goals
The goals of the Portland Monuments Project are to:
- Engage the community in creating policies about Portland’s public art collection.
- Foster new conversations about the purpose of monuments and memorials in Portland.
- Finalize recommendations for new monuments, updated interpretations, and the future of monuments that were damaged or removed in 2020 and 2021.
How Guiding Questions Shape Our Process
Monuments signify community values and our collective memory.
Our guiding questions focus the Portland Monuments Project on understanding what is important to the people who call Portland home.
Our focus in the Portland Monuments Project is to better understand what is important to the people here and now. Who or what do we want to remember? And, what can we never forget?
Public Engagement for the Portland Monuments Project is guided by the following questions:
- How can Portland adapt and be open to change with its use of public art to hold memory and history?
- What do Portlanders think about the current collection of monuments in the City’s Public Art Collection?
- How can monuments support the City of Portland's core values of equity, anti-racism, collaboration, communication, transparency, and fiscal responsibility?
- The City of Portland has decisions to make about monuments and public art. These decisions include how to think about our history and how to educate the public about our monuments. What principles and practices should guide these decisions?
What is a Monument?
In the City of Portland's shared Public Art Collection with Multnomah County, there are about 100 sculptures and memorials among more than 3,400 works of art. Our history, much like our people, is not static.
Currently, Portland City Code defines monuments as three-dimensional works that are publicly accessible, and commemorate a person, place or event. Our goal is for the city’s understanding of monuments to evolve through this project. We want to hear from the public what should be considered a monument.
What's Happening with the City’s Monuments?
Each of the City’s monuments is at a different status.
Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt will return to the South Park Blocks with new interpretive signage, while George Washington will be recommended for relocation. Repairs of the Elk are complete and a groundbreaking for construction of the fountain is planned for Fall 2024. A new York monument is being commissioned, and the Promised Land and Harvey Scott statues will be deaccessioned.
For detailed updates on each monument, please visit the dedicated Monuments Status webpage.
Portland Monuments Symposium October 11 & 12
Save the dates for an engaging multi-day symposium where community voices, artists, regional arts administrators, and national arts leaders will convene to explore the present significance and future potentials of public spaces, art, and monuments.
Learn more about The Portland Monuments Symposium.
Deepening Public Engagement to Reimagine Monuments
In 2020, the City of Portland, like many cities across the U.S., joined a national conversation to reevaluate historical monuments.
A public call for greater introspection about what and who is honored and memorialized in public art and monuments inspired us in Portland to develop an inclusive, community-centered public engagement process for collective imagination, storytelling, education, and healing.
Explore a timeline of the public engagement to learn more about what has happened with the monuments in Portland.
Monument Cities Network
The City of Portland is participating in a national network of municipalities that are sharing insights and best practices around the country on public art and monuments.
Learn more about the Monuments Cities Network
Resources and information
Monuments offer us an opportunity to express what is important to our community. Explore the list of monument resources to learn about the insights and contributions that have informed our project approach in Portland.
Questions/concerns
Contact Darion Jones, Assistant Director, Office of Arts & Culture anytime at darion.jones@portlandoregon.gov to share feedback, concerns, or ask questions.