Hellman Artist in Residence Workshop

Envisioning New Monuments to Empathy: A Participatory Workshop

To promote civic virtues, governments erect statues in public parks and plazas. Traditionally these monuments have depicted historical figures, such as George Washington, or have represented virtues allegorically using symbols such as torches and scales. Yet for all their efforts – and considerable expenditure on bronze and marble – civilization is in crisis. The rise of hatred and divisiveness shows that the old iconography isn’t working. For the sake of our collective future, civic statuary needs to be reconsidered. Seeking alternative approaches rooted in the neuroscience of empathy as an artist-in-residence at the Memory and Aging Center, conceptual artist Jonathon Keats has prototyped a community monument visioning kit. You are invited to try out the first iteration during this two-hour workshop.

Introductory remarks by Dr. Bruce Miller, Dr. Kate Rankin and artist Jonathon Keats.