As long as humans have sought to honor the present and remember times past, we have built monuments and memorials. Our traditions around monuments and memorials have changed over time. Today, each monument prompts many questions: What should be remembered, and why? How should it be remembered? Where should a monument or memorial be built, and when? And who gets to decide? Most of us rarely get a say in how people and events are memorialized. What monuments or memorials would you like to see in your personal life, home, or local community? How can communities celebrate the ideas and values that are important to them together?

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Master Artist Michael Bernard Stevenson Jr. is Black, Italian, Queer, Nonbinary, Neurodivergent, and practices primarily in America. Their collaborative approach results in artwork by and for the people. Stevenson’s practice has been dedicated to supporting young people in kindergarten through collegiate educational settings develop skills to encourage advanced imaginative thinking and self-confident expression. In 2019 they developed the Afro Contemporary Art Class at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School, which has had many forms since, including Afro Futurist February and three years of Fred Hampton Summer Camp. Their recent work “Mapping the Pipeline” was shown at the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art as part of the Policing Justice exhibition. Stevenson is currently working in the Albina community to develop a living archive at Jefferson High School with students, community, and the architectural design team. Stevenson has been involved in conversations surrounding Portland monuments since 2020 and continues to interrogate how the city explores remembering our most significant characteristics as a community of people living life at the same time and in the same place.