City of Santa Monica
City of Santa Monica
The Acknowledge + Reframe Together initiative (Reframe) furthers the City's goal of creating a more just and equitable Santa Monica through public art and civic memory projects. The City strives to cultivate an inclusive and fair environment where all people in Santa Monica, in particular disenfranchised communities of color, thrive, are welcome, and belong. Building on the experience of the Belmar History + Art project, the Reframe Initiative will continue with City Hall Mural project to address the WPA-era lobby murals in historic City Hall.
"I'm proud to see the City's equity initiatives continuing with this engagement around the City Hall mural," said City Manager David White. "I'm looking forward to hearing voices from our community so that we may move forward in this important work to address this mural and how we welcome our communities to City Hall."
The Reframe: City Hall Mural project centers on the meaning, impact, and potential responses to the controversial mural by Stanton Macdonald-Wright titled "History of Santa Monica and the Bay District," which was unveiled in the lobby of historic Santa Monica City Hall in 1939. In recent years, cities across the country have initiated community dialogues in response to public art that does not accurately reflect contemporary values. In Santa Monica, the City Council has determined that this lobby mural, in this prominent position of welcome into the seat of city government, does not express the full complexity of our histories and community. The City is therefore engaging a diverse array of voices and perspectives through a series of community conversations and art activities, with the goal of addressing the mural and potentially commissioning new artworks that will convey more of this land's history and better express our community's values today.
"We have brought on Meztli Projects to help lead this project and are excited to be working with them on this important consideration of the meanings, impact, and responses around the City Hall mural," says Cultural Affairs Manager Shannon Daut. "Meztli is bringing together community members with a variety of perspectives, histories, and ties to Santa Monica for an exciting slate of activities. As they are an Indigenous-based arts & culture collaborative centering Indigeneity into the creative practice of Los Angeles, we're looking forward to the resources they bring to this project."
The public is invited to participate in a series of Reframe: City Hall Mural events:
Sites of Memory Tour
Saturday February 11, 2023, 10am-1pm
Location: In-person - Kuruvungna Springs, Santa Monica City Hall, and Historic Belmar Park
Activity Guide and Teacher Training
Wednesday, February 22, 2023, 6pm-7pm
Location: Virtual - Zoom
Memory Work Today
Wednesday, March 8, 2023, 6-7pm
Location: Virtual - Zoom
Community Listening Workshop
Saturday, April 1, 2023, 3-5pm
Location: In-person - Virginia Avenue Park, Thelma Terry Building
Original source can be found here.
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