Should Some Chicago Monuments Fall? The Contentious Politics of Public Art

Please join New Lines Magazine and Nighthawk for a critical dialogue about the politics of public art in the Windy City (and beyond).
About this Event

Public art matters. Monuments in public spaces signal what the dominant or mainstream community believes is worth remembering. In Chicago, as in some other cities, the public art landscape has a surprising history of promoting anti-worker, racist and even fascist ideals. Specifically, this forum will discuss the history of the Haymarket Police Monument, Confederate Mound in Oak Woods Cemetery and Balbo Monument/Balbo Drive, which is dedicated to (Italian) fascism. We will also discuss new monuments dedicated to fighting racism and historical amnesia, which are currently in the works.

About the interlocutors

Peter Cole is co-director of the Chicago Race Riot of 1919 Commemoration Project, which received major funding and support from the Chicago Monuments Project, Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, and Mellon Foundation. He is a professor of history at Western Illinois University and a research associate in the Society, Work and Politics Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. He is the author of “Dockworker Power: Race and Activism in Durban and the San Francisco Bay Area” (2018) and “Wobblies on the Waterfront: Interracial Unionism in Progressive-Era Philadelphia” (2013).

Elizabeth Todd-Breland is a professor of history at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). She is co-author of “I Didn’t Come Here to Lie: My Life and Education” (2025), the memoir of the late Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis. She is also author of “A Political Education: Black Politics and Education Reform in Chicago Since the 1960s” (2018), which analyzes transformations in Black politics, shifts in modes of education organizing and the racial politics of education reform from the 1960s to the 2010s. She collaborates on public history projects with community organizations, educators and students. 

Moderated by New Lines Politics Editor Danny Postel

This event is part of the monthly series Juxtapositions: Conversations on Art, Ideas and Global Cross-Currents, a co-production of and Nighthawk. It is free of charge and open to the public.