Public Art and Monuments Advisory Committee

After holding seven public meetings and receiving hundreds of comments from residents across the city, the Public Art & Monuments Advisory Committee submitted its final report to Mayor Fischer.

The finished report includes a set of principles for evaluating Louisville’s existing public art and monuments. The work of the Committee, which was convened by Mayor Fischer, is now concluded.

Read the Final Report of the Public Art & Monuments Advisory Committee

The Public Art and Monuments Advisory Committee was charged with developing a set of principles for evaluating Louisville’s existing public art and monuments. Committee members represent a range of disciplines and perspectives, including art, history, community building, business and political science.

The scope of work for the Committee (Feb-June 2018) included:

• review processes, actions and outcomes employed by other cities;
• develop strategies to receive public input;
• work with Metro staff to gather and review historical research;
• consider public opinion, historical research and the multi-disciplinary perspectives of Committee members in developing principles; and
• produce a report outlining the Committee’s methods of inquiry and findings on the matter of establishing principles to guide decisions on whether to alter, preserve or remove public art and monuments.

The set of principles that the Committee was tasked with developing acknowledge the complexities of Louisville’s past, as well as the values that matter to us today. They are comprehensive, rather than specific to current controversies, and informed by the work of the city’s Commission on Public Art, Compassionate City initiatives and Historic Preservation Advisory Task Force.

The Committee will consider the historical representation of our city’s existing public art and monuments and develop principles that aspire to make public spaces welcoming and reflective of our diverse community. The principles will guide the administration’s deliberation on whether to alter, to preserve or to remove public art and monuments that may be interpreted as honoring bigotry, racism and/or slavery. 

List of Members of the Public Art & Monuments Advisory Committee