Marisa Lerer

There is a lacuna of Latinx representation within U.S. public monuments and memorials. My book project considers this historical lack of a Latinx presence in commemorative practices and examines the contemporary actions of Latinx public art producers to correct this historical erasure in their roles as artists, public art administrators, curators, community organizers, politicians, and jurors. This study seeks to account for the specific strategies, processes, and networks through which Latinx artists both engage with and resist traditional modes of memorialization. It specifically examines contentious monuments connected to the Latinx experience, as well as memorials to veterans, tragedies, and cultural figures.

Little scholarly research has been conducted to examine the way in which Latinx memorials are received by visitors in the public realm. By conducting visitor response interviews to examine public artworks, this study seeks to understand how visitors interact with and respond to memorials dedicated to Latinx culture and history. In addition to visitor response, this investigation applies the interdisciplinary lenses of memory and gender studies to interrogate Latinx memorials. By focusing on public memorials through their link to visitor reception and patronage, this project explores how Latinx artists are composing complex narratives in the public sphere to create public art projects that are more reflective of the U.S. population. My analysis of contemporary Latinx artists working with innovative public art models and aesthetic inquiries to amplify a multiplicity of voices offers broader ramifications for framing public art and commemorative practices.

This fellowship received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.