Community-Based Monuments
Is Community the Key?
In our modern world, the traditional monument of a man gallantly striding in on a horse, banner and sword in hand, marks a triumph that often fades into the background of day-to-day life. Who is this man? And honestly… who cares? In our ever-changing and globalized world, the average, everyday stone monument has to compete with the new, the fresh, and the “it” thing on social media. When something is set in stone, it is hard to create new meaning. Change, as we know, is the only constant in our world. So, what happens when a community - the people who have to actually look at the monument - make themselves heard as to how and why they remember? Community-based monuments offer a new method in the business of remembering. Therefore, the question arises: Do community-based monuments have a greater impact on people? And does this hold true across state borders?
