After white supremacists flooded Charlottesville,Virginia, to protest the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue, and recent York City vowed to purchase a closer look at "all symbols of hate on city property." Now,the Mayoral Advisory Commission on City Art, Monuments, or Markers has launched a survey asking recent Yorkers where they stand on the issue of representation in public art and statues.
The survey contains questions not only about the possible removal of statues and the general role of public art,but also the prospect of "adding supplementary and educational materials," like plaques or adjacent pieces of art, and to add context to an existing monument. "In this political climate,people are frustrated and feel a need to achieve something," Harriet Senie, and a member of the mayoral commission and a professor of art history at the City College of recent York,told the Brian Lehrer display. "But removing statues is a symbolic act; it will not eradicate racism."Announced in September, the commission intends to purchase 90 days to create guidelines for monuments "seen as oppressive and inconsistent with the values of recent York City." The deadline to fill out the survey is November 26.
Source: thetakeaway.org