Commemorate DC
Commemorate DC
The Office of Planning (OP) invites you to help plan new monuments and memorials in your community!
Commemorate DC 2025 Subject Nomination Workshop
Please join the DC Office of Planning (OP) in collaboration with the offices of Historic Preservation for an educational and collaborative event on Commemorative Works in the District. For 2025 OP is gearing up for a new set of projects for Commemoration. That means new sites, new subjects, and new opportunities to have uncovered stories be spotlit and celebrated. During the event you will learn how to research a subject, prime resources to use, and how to package and deliver this information for a proposal. Event Staff and OP will also put on a presentation to where to go and how to submit your subject for nomination. We hope to see you there!
Welcome to Commemorate DC!
Welcome to Commemorate DC's community platform! This site is dedicated to guiding you through the process of participating in our commemortive works initiative! Here you'll find resources on the process to take a commemorative work from an idea to a built piece of public art! Our goal is to make it easy for you to engage, share your ideas, and help shape our public spaces with meaningful works that honor the people and stories that matter most to our communities. Join us in celebrating our history and impact and honoroing the stories of our shared past!
Subject Nomination Applications are OPEN!
Please visit www.publicinput.com/cdcsubjectnomination to nominate your subject for the next commemorative work in the District! There you'll find everything you need to explore, nominate, and vote for individuals, communities, or events that have shaped our history.
Recent In-Person Events
COMMEMORATIVE WORKS CELEBRATION AT ART ALL NIGHT
Thank you for joining the DC Office of Planning in our partnership with the Congress Heights Arts & Culture Center at The Road to Art All Night at Sycamore & Oak!
We were able to reveal the final concept designs for our commemorative works at Sycamore and Oak during Congress Heights Art All Night event on Friday September 27th. Our collaboration with the Congress Heights Art & Culture Center for their two-day Art All Night festivities led to great conversations and feedback on the presented concepts as well as questions about this upcoming year and how one might get involved. We showcased the culmination of months of community engagement and creative collaboration all to promote positive planning of future commemorative works in our communities.
STABLE ARTS OPEN STUDIOS
On day two of the Art All Night festivities, the DC Office of Planning attended the Stable Art's Pop-Up Courtyard Party on Saturday September 28th. We tabled and offered residents and visitors the opportunity to learn more about our upcoming plans for the next phase of Commemorate DC. Patrons of the event were able to view the final concept designs, meet the team, ask questions, and share their ideas. Be on the lookout for more information regarding future events, and next steps on how to get involved and informed for the 2025 year!
JOIN OUR MAILING LIST!
NOFA: Commemorate DC Grant
Are you a DC-Based Arts organizations and/or non-profits with experience in Public Art? If so this grant opportunity could be for you!
Applicants shall submit one application. The maximum award amount is $40,000 per organization. Incomplete or late applications or applications that do not follow the instructions and guidelines will be automatically deemed ineligible for review and funding. Prospective applicants should read through these guidelines in their entirety before submitting an application.
Release Date of Request for Applications: November 12, 2024
Deadline for Submission: December 3, 2024
Pre-Application Conference: November 20, 2024 (3:00 PM)
Availability of RFA: The Request for Applications (RFA) is now live on the Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs’ website (https://communityaffairs.dc.gov/content/community-grant-program).
Amount of Awards: The total funding available through this notice is $40,000. OP intends to make one award. The RFA does not commit OP to make an award.
Length of Awards: Grant awards are for the date of award through September 30, 2025.
OP Contact: Edward Giefer, edward.giefer@dc.gov
About the Project:
Commemorate DC will support local partners participating in the program to increase commemoration of Black Washingtonians and other leaders of color in all Wards of the District. After subjects and sites have been identified, a design team and public artists provided by OP and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities will prepare concept designs.
As the Nation’s capital, monuments and commemorative works have typically been focused on or reserved for commemoration to individuals or subjects of national importance within the monumental core, the original L’Enfant City, and mostly in Wards 1, 2, 3, and 6. Many of these subjects participated in slavery, systemic racism, and the mistreatment of, or took actions that suppressed equality for, persons of color, certain groups of people, and women.
DC's Commemorative Works Program reviews proposals submitted by sponsors, but since the program was established in 2001 has received only a handful of applications for local subjects. OP's Commemorate DC work includes technical assistance to community partners in all Wards to identify commemorative subjects and sites before supporting efforts. The Office of Planning's partners are convening meetings with community groups and residents to discuss subjects to commemorate, appropriate sites, and concept designs of commemorative works. Concept designs will be reviewed by the Commemorative Works Committee who will make a recommendation on each proposal to the Mayor and District Council, who have final review and approval.
Contact Us:
Zhetique Gunn, Program Manager, Urban Design Division
Email: CWTAP@dc.gov
Phone: (202) 442-7600
We look forward to hearing from you!