The Gay Liberation Monument in NYC’s gay village is a monument made to commemorate the Stonewall Riots. It was made by George Segal you may of seen his work before, its pretty great. When it was made it was too controversial for New York city to instal due to the subject mater being risky for closed-minded people of the time. It did however finally get installed in Christopher Park many years after it was made. Marsha P Johnson, an amazing activist of the LGBTI community and one of the inspiration for my vase series, said about the monument:
“How many people have died for these two little statues to be put in the park to recognize gay people? How many years does it take for people to realize we’re all brothers and sisters in the human race? We’re all in this rat race together.”
Whats really sad is Marsha P Johnson was murdered and has become another statistic about violence of trans people. We miss her voice.
The Names Quilt is so touching, it’s made up of multiple quilts put together to make a huge quilt with names hand sown in by loved ones who lost their friends, family and lovers to the HIV AIDS virus. It is so moving to see when they unveil the quilt: their friends read out the names of the friends who have passed and their name echoes in the speaker through the large promenade leading up to the Washington monument. You can feel the sense of loss as you hear name after name ring out in the air.
I have learned what different flowers can mean when laid or placed for historical memorials or when giving them to someone. I love that each flowers carries a different meaning.