women's liberation monument

The monument I’m proposing is inspired by the Women’s Liberation Movement. Its purpose is to memorialize the women within the movement's diversity in race, class, and sexuality. The monument will be a 12-foot tall three-tier marble fountain At the top of the fountain are 5 bronze women standing back to back in a circular formation holding shallow bowls with fountain hoses installed in the base of the bowl. The water will fall from these bowls into the second tier of half singular pools, which also have fountain hoses, below each woman figure catching that water. These pools will sit above a rectangular platform base plated with bronze engraved with protest designs of women. The final pool tier will have lights installed in order to capture attention during the nighttime. The edges of the final pool tier will be wide enough to sit on.

The purpose of this monument is remembering women of the liberation movement who have been forgotten by history. Their struggles and the injustices of a country that mistreated them and saw them as expendable are being buried. They, as women who struggled deserve to be carried and be present today. It’s also telling women in general within these communities today that there is a need to fight, there is a need to maintain their identity and make themselves known so that the injustices of women of color do not once again become buried.

I would want to set up my monument on the West side of Central Park below 72nd Street. My reasoning for the position of the monument here, although possibly difficult to achieve, is that it will be adjacent to the Women’s March Route. The Women’s March, and today’s Feminist movement, has been met with a similar whitewashing. Women of color and the issues that affect them, have been less represented in the movement, similar to what was occurring in the Women’s Liberation Movement. Because history is slowly starting to repeat itself, I think it's important for there to be a physical reminder to remember all women within the movement, so it is impossible for history to erase them again.

The involvement of local communities for this monument specifically, needs to include more than just people who live directly around the monument. The public nature of Central Park means the decisions around the monument will need to be as diverse as the space it represents. Central Park is visited by around 38 million people annually, thus making a committee of only people who live in the area unrepresentative to the more diverse population of potential spectators. A committee of people from the neighborhood, individuals from different boroughs, socioeconomic classes, and race, and finally representatives from the NYC Parks Department.

A monument meant for remembrance needs engagement, to act almost as a physical act of remembering. Four ways that I anticipate the community to engage with the monument, is through the Women’s March, Women’s month events, coin throwing, and sitting on benches near the fountain. Having the monument near the route of the Women’s March provides a variety of possible engagement. The Women’s Liberation Fountain could act as a point of sign-in for the Women’s March. Its proximity also serves as a point of remembrance for all the women in the march to remember to listen to, recognize, and fight for the struggles that women of color specifically as well. Another method of engagement would be to hold events in the area of the fountain during Women’s month, such as holding talks, gatherings, etc.

Forms of engagement that are more simple, are coin throwing and sitting on benches nearby. Coin throwing is a very natural response to seeing fountains, especially for children. The fountains allure for coin throwing can prompt children to ask questions about the fountain serving as an education point, allowing these women to live on in the minds of the youth. Sitting near the fountain can be done by anyone. This type of engagement is less active than the others, but existing in the same space as the fountain can provide a meditative remembrance of the women the fountain is honoring.