Keithley Symposium: Monuments and Memory
Exhibition Program
- Lecture
Suzanne and Paul Westlake Performing Arts Center

Slave Rebellion Reenactment (performance still), 2020. Dread Scott (American, b. 1957). Photo: Soul Brother
About The Event
Who decides what is publicly memorialized?
What happens when our collective thinking about that person, event, or issue changes? How do we “undo” a past memorialization and decide what may come in its place? What happens when the physical existence of a place or event is lost? How can we make visible these hidden or unspoken histories?
Through a series of talks, panel discussions, gallery conversations, and interactive experiences, learn how artists in Cleveland and elsewhere have transformed the monumental topography of the United States and share your own thoughts on what should be remembered in your community.
Session 1: Monuments and Memory
10:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m., Gartner Auditorium, The Cleveland Museum of Art
10:00—Welcome, William M. Griswold, Director and President, The Cleveland Museum of Art
10:05—Renée Ater, “Contemporary Monuments to the Slave Past”
10:30—Panel 1: “Undoing and Remaking Collective Memory.” Renée Ater (moderator), Michelle Browder, and M. Carmen Lane
11:30—Panel 2: “Cleveland: From Site to Community.” David Wilson (moderator), Mordecai Cargill, and Kat Burdine
12:30—Introduction to “Monuments to Cleveland: Reimagined Futures,” Key Jo Lee
Lunch Break
1:00–2:00 p.m.
Session 2: Monuments to Cleveland: Reimagined Futures
2:00–3:30 p.m., Ames Family Atrium
CMA invited two Cleveland-based artists who participated in the 2021 Keithley Symposium roundtables to create model monuments to Cleveland.
kasumi, Surfacing
Surfacing draws on the political and symbolic parallels between women and water.
Gwendolyn Garth, The Isms Eradicator
Cleveland has a history of innovation, including superheroes. The Isms Eradicator celebrates the liberating power of human strength.
Come and talk to the artists about their installations. Join the conversation by sharing your ideas for monuments in Cleveland at the visitor response station!
2:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m., Ames Family Atrium
Gallery conversations on the theme of monument and memory led by students in the CMA/CWRU joint program in art history
Cohosted by the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) and Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) through their joint program in art history, the Keithley Symposium is a biennial event that brings together artists, scholars, thought leaders, and community members to explore the role of visual arts in contemporary society.
The Keithley Symposium is made possible through the generous support of Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley.
All education programs at the Cleveland Museum of Art are underwritten by the CMA Fund for Education. Principal support is provided by Dieter and Susan M. Kaesgen. Major annual support is provided by Brenda and Marshall Brown, David and Robin Gunning, Eva and Rudolf Linnebach, Gail C. and Elliott L. Schlang, Shurtape Technologies, and the Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation. Generous annual support is provided by an anonymous donor, Gini and Randy Barbato, the M. E. and F. J. Callahan Foundation, Dr. William A. Chilcote Jr. and Dr. Barbara S. Kaplan, Char and Chuck Fowler, the Giant Eagle Foundation, Robin Heiser, the late Marta and the late Donald M. Jack Jr., Bill and Joyce Litzler, the Logsdon Family Fund for Education, Sarah Nash, William J. and Katherine T. O’Neill, the Pickering Foundation, William Roj and Mary Lynn Durham, Betty T. and David M. Schneider, the Sally and Larry Sears Fund for Education Endowment, Roy Smith, Paula and Eugene Stevens, the Trilling Family Foundation, and the Womens Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art.