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Photo: Laura A. Macaluso

Public Art & Public History

Projects & Presentations

The Panther and the Bulldog: The Visual and Material Culture of Solidarity in New Haven, Connecticut

In a small historic New England city, filled with public art, monuments and memorials of every kind and the home of an elite academic institution, Yale University, one important story has been left out of the public memory-making process: that of the role of the Black Panther Party in New Haven and the events surrounding the May Day trials in 1970…

The Radical Sixties, Aesthetics, Politics and Histories of Solidarity, University of Brighton June 2019
New Haven Mural

Celebrating CETA: A Look Back at New Haven’s Community Mural Program

In early 2017, New Haven’s “Q” House on Dixwell Avenue was imploded to make way for a brand-new community center. In that long-abandoned Modernist building were at least two murals painted almost forty years ago. These were among the last survivors from a small but productive community mural program run for a handful of years out of New Haven City Hall in the late 1970s…

Ives Gallery, New Haven Free Public Library New Haven, Connecticut July through September 2019

The Outsiders: Makers and Creatives Working with History Outside the Museum

Our makers and creatives include Colin Caplan, a New Haven architect with a penchant for New Haven pizza who has authored multiple books on local New Haven history. On top of this, Colin, runs two tour companies both of which highlight Elm City history and culture, and he is currently producing a documentary film about…

New England Museum Association Centennial Conference: Museums on the Move, Stamford, Connecticut November 2018

What To Do About Columbus?

History, Ethnicity, and Identity in the First Monument to Columbus in Connecticut What-to-do-about-Columbus?

Wellesley Deerfield Symposium: Monumental Narratives, Revisiting New England's Public Memorials, Historic Deerfield October 2018

The Politics of Public Art in Jefferson Country

Central Virginia is sometimes called “Jefferson Country.” It is here, at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains, that Thomas Jefferson was born, built his houses, developed 10,000 acres of active plantation labored on by hundreds of men, women and children, and, fathered black children and white children. Due to the rural nature of the area—farms…

Manchester Centre for Public History & Heritage: Moving Monuments, History, Memory and the Politics of Public Sculpture, Manchester Metropolitan University, England April 2018

The Politics of Public Art in Jefferson Country

Central Virginia is sometimes called “Jefferson Country.” It is here, at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains, that Thomas Jefferson was born, built his houses, developed 10,000 acres of active plantation labored on by hundreds of men, women and children, and, fathered black children and white children. Due to the rural nature of the area—farms…

Troubling Histories, Public Art and Prejudice, University of Johannesburg November 2017

State of Connecticut Percent-for-Art Installation at CAES

Project Description The Connecticut Agriculture Experiment Station is seeking a work of art that honors the rich history of CAES and taps into the extensive photo and archival collection. The project aims to achieve a permanent public art project while simultaneously carrying out a digital archive component that can be expanded upon by CAES following the completion of the 1% for Art project…

Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station New Haven, Connecticut 2016-2017

The Spirit of 1776/1917: Town and Gown Go to War

In the summer of 1917 Americans began preparing to enter the European War. Cantonments and camps sprang up around the country, making doughboys out of farm hands, clerks, factory workers—and college students. New Haven, Connecticut was one such place: the site of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, makers of the Enfield and BAR rifles…

Te Papa Tongarewa / Museum of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand April 28, 2017