Letter
Dear Ms. Hall:
In its public meeting of 20 July conducted by videoconference, the Commission of Fine Arts was pleased to hear an information presentation on Beyond Granite: Pulling Together, a pilot exhibition of six temporary installations on the National Mall as part of the Beyond Granite initiative of temporary commemorative works, developed in coordination with the National Capital Planning Commission and the Trust for the National Mall. The Commission provided the following comments on the pilot exhibition, scheduled for later this summer, and on the future phases of Beyond Granite.
Praising the initiative to provide a much-needed counterpoint to the proliferation of permanent memorials within this landscape, the Commission members expressed enthusiasm for the opportunity to bring different voices to the commemorative landscape of the National Mall; they cited the power of past temporary installations such as the AIDS Memorial Quilt. For future exhibits, they suggested selecting prominent sites, clustered for greater effect, and possibly designating permanent locations for rotating installations. They suggested that the planned welcome stations could be developed into a broader theme of welcoming as part of the program’s artistic conception. They also questioned the proposal to distribute a project-related newspaper to visitors in conjunction with the upcoming exhibition, citing the inevitability of litter; they instead suggested a more sustainable means of conveying information, such as displaying QR codes for visitors to scan.
The Commission looks forward to the pilot installation of these six exhibits and to future phases of the Beyond Granite initiative, as well as to continued public consideration of alternatives for commemoration within the National Mall landscape. Please continue to coordinate with the staff which, as always, is available to assist you.
Sincerely,
/s/Thomas E. Luebke, FAIA
Secretary
Kym A. Hall, Area Director
Region 1 – National Capital Area
National Park Service
1100 Ohio Drive, SW
Washington, DC 20242
cc: Teresa Durkin, Trust for the National Mall
Paul Farber, Monument Lab
Marcel Acosta, National Capital Planning Commission