1. What should we consider when memorializing an event or person and creating a monument?

2. Background: Why and how do we memorialize?
Why do we memorialize?
To honor moments of great achievement
To honor people
To remember our past
To unify us in some way
How do we memorialize?
Works of art: poems, songs, visual art, music
Scrapbooks and other mementos
Statues
Parks
Restored structures
Museums

3. Through careful consideration of the monument’s location, size, material and purpose, a designer may effectively pay homage to deep sacrifice or honor moments of great achievement.

4. Location is of utmost importance in the effectiveness of a monument.
A park may provide the perfect setting.
This striking statue amid the beauty of the park prompts us to remember the importance of Columbus to our history.
Such a setting may be particularly meaningful for a person or a group of people.
Too, the park’s beauty may elevate the meaning of the venue.
For example, Riverside Park in Easton, PA, was selected as the site of a monument honoring Christopher Columbus (The Christopher Columbus Monument in Riverside Park).

5. A forgotten Communist monument in Bulgaria (above);
Location cont
However, a monument located in an unsightly area would likely not be as effective.
A forgotten Communist monument in Bulgaria (above);
a monument to Pushkin on an abandoned building (right).

6. Location cont
In another example, the Mall of Washington, D.C. was selected as the site for the Holocaust Museum (Musser).
Of its location, author Christine Musser notes that many questioned why “a museum of the Holocaust would be built in the United States, who [sic] did little to stop the Holocaust from occurring.”