Image via Socrates Sculpture Park (socratespark) Instagram.

Socrates Sculpture Park will be introducing Part I of their “Monuments Now” exhibition with a celebration to unveil acclaimed artist’s Jeffrey Gibsons monument this Friday, July 24, at 6:30 pm, on Facebook and Instagram Live (links in @SocratesPark Instagram bio).

During these unprecedented times and admist societal upheaval, the Monuments Now exhibition aims to address the role of monuments in society, and to highlight the underrepresented narratives of diasporic, Indigenous, and queer histories.

Jeffrey Gibson’s installation of ‘Because Once You Enter My House It Becomes Our House’ serves as an homage to Indigenous Mississipian culture, activist graphic traditions, and queer performative strategies. The sculpture represents a vision of a future that embraces complexities within the collective identity. Gibson also curated a series of Indigenous led performances to be filmed onsite, using the ziggurat as a stage, that will be available to the public online.

This Friday’s festivities include an acknowledgement by the Indigenous Kinship Collective and a performance by acclaimed violinist Laura Ortman. The exhibition will span over the course of a few months and will evolve in three phases. In addition to Gibson’s monument, part one will also include the artistic works of Paul Ramirez Jonas and Xaviera Simmons.

Although created by artists, monuments are ultimately valued and empowered by society. Many important structures have recently been taken down and even more are in question now. Socrates Park encourages a “visible conversation” and the public is invited to share their reactions on site and online.