Monuments and public art are “hot button” issues today in local communities as well as in our national conversation. This class investigates art in the public sphere, looking at the ways that visual experiences codify, encapsulate, and impact identity, community, and history. Working across historical and contemporary moments, we’ll examine a wide range of examples of public art, with a particular focus on monuments in the United States since 1900. Guiding questions include: Are there core components and principles for art and monuments in the public sphere? Do (or should) artworks operate differently in the public realm? How do public artworks and monuments shape collective memory and ideas about the past, present, and future? What is the relationship of public art and monuments to their audiences, including heritage, trauma, or belonging? Why have public art and monuments sparked such controversy recently? Using case studies and interdisciplinary methods, we will investigate artists, communities, histories, economics, and structures surrounding public art and monuments. We will visit public art in our local communities, talk to scholars and activists, and read articles and reports from a range of academic disciplines to deepen our understanding and hone our critical thinking about these powerful works of art.

This class will examine the Western European canon of Art History from the 15th to the 20th century in its intellectual and political contexts, while also addressing some of its inherently problematic and/or overlooked issues. Using a series of case studies, we will interrogate the impacts of global exchange and appropriation, othering, gender, colonialism, racism, and “Primitivism.”