Commemorative Works Technical Assistance Program
Commemorative Works Technical Assistance Program
Project Update: OP Partners with Community Groups to Promote Local Commemorative Works!
The DC Office of Planning (OP) has awarded $60,000 in grants to four Main Street programs through the District’s Commemorative Works Technical Assistance Program (TAP): Upper Georgia Avenue, The Parks, Ward 7 Partnership, and Congress Heights. The grants provide funding for facilitating meetings to identify subjects and locations for commemorative works, completing an application to request support developing a commemorative work design, and hosting public meetings to discuss proposed designs. Activities funded through these grants will create opportunities for DC residents to engage in the planning and creation of commemorative works honoring local Washingtonians and in areas of the District that lack memorials.
Check out their websites to learn more about our partners.
Upper Georgia Avenue Main Street
Destination Congress Heights Main Street
Check out the OP's website here to learn more about DC's Commemorative Work Program.
What's Next?
OP is procuring a design consultant who will prepare concept designs for commemorative works after subjects and sites have been dentified. The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (CAH) is also selecting public artists who will be part of the design team. Check out CAH's website here for more information on their Call for Artists.
More information on this will be shared here as it becomes available.
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About the Project:
The Commemorative Works Technical Assistance Program (TAP) will support local partners participating in the program to increase commemoration of Black Washingtonians and other leaders of color in all Wards of the District. After subjects and sites have been identified, a design team and public artists provided by OP and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities will prepare concept designs.
As the Nation’s capital, monuments and commemorative works have typically been focused on or reserved for commemoration to individuals or subjects of national importance within the monumental core, the original L’Enfant City, and mostly in Wards 1, 2, 3, and 6. Many of these subjects participated in slavery, systemic racism, and the mistreatment of, or took actions that suppressed equality for, persons of color, certain groups of people, and women.
DC's Commemorative Works Program reviews proposals submitted by sponsors, but since the program was established in 2001 has received only a handful of applications for local subjects. The TAP is first working with partners in Wards 4, 5, 7, and 8 to identify commemorative subjects and sites before supporting efforts in Wards 1, 2, 3, and 6. The Office of Planning's partners are convening meetings with community groups and residents to discuss subjects to commemorate, appropriate sites, and concept designs of commemorative works. Concept designs will be reviewed by the Commemorative Works Committee who will make a recommendation on each proposal to the Mayor and District Council, who have final review and approval.
Contact Us:
Chris Shaheen, Program Manager, Urban Design Division
Email: [email protected]
PHone: (202) 442-7600
We look forward to hearing from you!