In the News: Beyond Granite: Pulling Together Debuting Soon on the National Mall
Beyond Granite: Pulling together IN THE NEWS
Beyond Granite: Pulling Together, the first curated art exhibition in the history of the National Mall will run August 18 - September 18 featuring installations from six leading contemporary artists that bring new perspectives and stories to the National Mall.
The Trust for the National Mall is leading Beyond Granite: Pulling Together in partnership with the National Capital Planning Commission and the National Park Service. The inaugural exhibition is curated by Monument Lab.
Washington Post: Art on the Mall! They put Art on the National Mall!
“Beyond Granite” is smart and well-produced. There may be hitches, lines to ring the bell and some scratching of heads at the more conceptual work by visitors unfamiliar with the tropes of public art. But it proves something that has been obvious for decades: The Mall may be overstuffed with traditional monuments, memorials and museums but it is no way a substantially completed work of public art. Exhibitions like this one should be an annual endeavor.
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New York Times: National Mall Commissions 6 Artists for Monument Exhibition
“[Teresa] Durkin described ‘Pulling Together’ as a pilot arts program for the National Mall, where until recently the trust’s focus has been mostly on restoration and maintenance projects.
‘Our hope is that we will learn all we need to create a sustainable program that the trust would manage,’ Durkin said, ‘so we can continue to help people come and tell their stories.’”
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“The title borrows from educator and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune who, upon seeing the 1939 Easter Sunday performance of renowned Black opera singer Marian Anderson on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, said the performance “told a story of hope for tomorrow–a story of triumph–a story of pulling together, a story of splendor and real democracy.”
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“We’ve come together to elevate stories untold on the National Mall,” Trust for the National Mall President Catherine Townsend told WTOP. “This is an opportunity to bring an unprecedented and unique art exhibition to the National Mall for the first time. There have been a number of art installations around the mall through the years, but this is the first time we’ve curated six exhibits that tell the untold stories in pop-up memorials.”
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“The pilot will look at how these temporary installations can enhance the dialogue on the Mall,” said Julie Moore, vice president of communications for the Trust for the National Mall. “It’ll be a way to bring new perspectives and new voices to the commemorative landscape.”
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Washington Post: The Mall gets first curated multi-artist exhibit
”Over time, artists have come to us on an ad hoc basis,” says Teresa Durkin, executive vice president of the Trust for the National Mall. So the Trust decided to undertake a pilot program to place temporary artworks on the Mall, the first time a curated multi-artist program has been exhibited there.”
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Smithsonian Magazine: The Most Anticipated Museum Openings of 2023
“Throughout the second half of 2023, the Mall and its surroundings will become home to a series of new commemorative exhibitions, performances and installations—all designed to generate more equity and inclusivity through creative expression, and explore the role of monuments in telling and shaping American history.”
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“Six new monuments will open on the National Mall next year as part of an initiative to expand the reach and vision of the nation’s cultural and commemorative treasury.
The monuments won’t last for eternity: They’re part of an exhibit slated to open in August 2023 as part of the 60th anniversary celebration of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom led by Martin Luther King Jr.”
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“Pulling Together is the pilot exhibition of the new Beyond Granite initiative, presented by the Trust for the National Mall in partnership with the National Capital Planning Commission and the National Park Service. Beyond Granite is the result of an ongoing conversation on public art and commemoration at the site.”
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“…New public art show will bring alternative monuments by Derrick Adams, Wendy Red Star, vanessa german and others to the busiest national park in the US.”
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“Funded by a $4.5 million grant from the Mellon Foundation, in partnership with the Trust for the National Mall, the National Capital Planning Commission and the National Park Service, the project is “the result of federal and local agencies who are invested and compelled in how the past/present/future of our monuments live together, and see art at the core of that,” Farber said. He added that “part of the mission is to have a coalition effort to imagine art as a way forward.”
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Washington City Paper: The Inaugural Beyond Granite Exhibition Showcases Untold Stories on the Mall
Julie Moore, vice president of communications at the Trust for the National Mall, described the pilot project as an opportunity to test the power of temporary art to inspire change, prompt reflection, and continuously weave new narratives into the “sacred” landscape.
“This is a way of sharing new stories, perspectives, and memories, in a meaningful way,” Moore says, “and also protecting that grand, open space.”
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The Architect’s Newspaper: Daily Digest Dec. 9, 2022
“Monument Lab and The Trust for the National Mall have selected six artists for Beyond Granite, a new program that aims to commemorate the histories and tell the stories of underrepresented groups on the nation’s front lawn. Pulling Together, the first edition of the series, asks artists to address these issues through giant, monumental works to be displayed on the National Mall and around D.C.”
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“I hope Beyond Granite: Pulling Together sparks important, and sometimes hard conversations in living rooms, classrooms, sidewalks, and beyond, about our collective experience and history as Americans,” Teresa Durkin, the executive vice president of the Trust for the National Mall, said in a news release.
“These new installations are opening the doors to a deeper and more meaningful dialogue about what stories we should pass on to the next generation,” said Durkin.
Read more here.