Fairfield University Art Museum | Monuments

MONUMENTS Commemoration and Controversy

Organized by The New York Historical

September 19 - December 20, 2025

This fall, the Fairfield University Art Museum celebrates 15 years of inspiring exhibitions and programs. At the same time, our nation marks a major milestone: the 250th anniversary – or Semiquincentennial – of the founding of the United States. During the 2025-2026 academic year, we will present a series of three exhibitions to commemorate this historic occasion, surrounding them with associated programs that help us reflect on our complex history, culture, and artistic legacy. We hope that these exhibitions inspire thoughtful dialogue about the state of our democracy, and the collective responsibility we share in shaping its future.

We are honored to start the semester and this commemorative year with Monuments: Commemoration and Controversy on view in the Museum’s Bellarmine Hall Galleries. This exhibition explores monuments and their representations in public spaces and reveals how monument-making and monument-breaking have long shaped American life as public statues have been celebrated, attacked, protested, altered, and removed. As a group, the objects in the exhibition broach a range of pressing topical issues, from leadership to morality, gender, religion, and racism.

We are grateful to The New York Historical for facilitating the loan of this exhibition. It has been a pleasure to work with Erin McFadden, the Associate Registrar for Traveling Exhibitions, as we have tweaked the floor plan and other details to make this compelling exhibition effective in our spaces. Monuments: Commemoration and Controversy is curated by Wendy Nālani E. Ikemoto, Vice President and Chief Curator at The New York Historical. We look forward to welcoming Dr. Ikemoto to campus to present the opening night lecture.

We are very appreciative of our faculty liaison for this exhibition, Dr. Marice Rose, who has helped us to shape an exciting array of associated programming for this exhibition.

We are pleased to welcome Wealthspire as a new sponsor and thank them for their support of this exhibition and their commitment to ensuring our programs remain high-quality, free, and open to all.

Thanks as always go to the exceptional Museum team for their hard work in bringing this exhibition and its programming to life: Michelle DiMarzo, curator of education and academic engagement; Megan Paqua, museum registrar; Heather Coleman, museum assistant; and Elizabeth Vienneau, museum educator. We are grateful for the additional support provided across the University by Kiersten Bjork, Susan Cipollaro, and Dan Vasconez, as well as by our colleagues in the Quick Center for the Arts, the Media Center, the Center for Arts and Minds, and Design and Print.

~ Carey Mack Weber

Frank and Clara Meditz Executive Director

Christopher Columbus. Robert E. Lee. Theodore Roosevelt. J. Marion Sims. Thomas Jefferson. John C. Calhoun. Their representations in public space have sparked fierce debate. Police have barricaded them. Cities have removed them. Protesters have sprayed graffiti on and in some cases toppled them.

This exhibition explores monuments as flashpoints of controversy over national identity, politics, and race. It looks back at the history of such controversy in the very founding of the United States. And it looks forward to present-day efforts to challenge the structures of power shaping civic spaces and call attention to histories long suppressed.

Monuments: Commemoration and Controversy draws from The New York Historical’s permanent collections. It ranges from the destruction of a monument to King George III to the raising of a monument to abolition. And it invites you to consider both monument-breaking and monument-making as potent political acts continually shaping the public consciousness of our shared history.

Curator: Wendy

Nālani E. Ikemoto, Vice President and Chief Curator, The New York Historical

Exhibition Checklist

1. Ivan Schwartz, StudioEIS (est. 1977, Brooklyn, New York)

Equestrian Statue of King George III (modern recreation), 2016

3D printed and painted plastic

17 x 16 x 7 inches

The New York Historical, Gift of Ivan Schwartz, SC.2017.1

2. Joseph Wilton (English, 1722–1803)

Horse’s tail from the equestrian statue of King George III, 1770–1776

Lead

81/2 x 19 x 13 inches

The New York Historical, Museum purchase, 1878.6

3. Unidentified maker

Musket balls excavated at Revolutionary War barracks, 1760–1783

Lead

Largest 5/8 inches

The New York Historical, Gift of the Washington Headquarters Association, Daughters of the American Revolution, 1947, INV.6100.155–161

4. Unidentified maker Bullet mold, 1776

Iron, wood, glass, paper, wax 20 x 22 inches

The New York Historical, Gift of Clinton Roosevelt, 1860.7

5. Johannes Adam Simon Oertel (born Furth, Bavaria 1823died Vienna, Virginia 1909)

Pulling Down the Statue of

King George III, New York City, ca. 1852–1853

Oil on canvas

441/8 x 53 inches (framed)

The New York Historical, Gift of Samuel Verplanck Hoffman, 1925.6

6. Keith Shaw Williams (American, 1906–1951)

Pulling Down the Statue of King George III, New York City, 1776, 1938

Oil on canvas

The New York Historical, Purchase, General Fund, 1938.402

Reproduction and reduction

7. John Quincy Adams Ward (American, 1830–1910)

The Indian Hunter, 1860 Bronze 16 x 14 x 10 inches

The New York Historical, Gift of Mr. George A. Zabriskie, 1939.390

8. US Office of Indian Affairs Map showing the location of the Indian reservations within the limits of the United States and territories, 1888

Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division

Reproduction and enlargement

9. George Henry Boughton, R. A. (English, 1833–1905)

Pilgrims Going to Church , 1867

Oil on canvas

43½ x 67 inches (framed)

The New York Historical, The Robert L. Stuart

Collection, the gift of his widow Mrs. Mary Stuart, S-117

10. Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi (French, 1834–1904) for Avoiron & Cie.

Liberty Enlightening the World , 1878–86

Copper-plated zinc

395/8 x 12 x 12 inches

The New York Historical, Purchase, 1937.85

11. Samuel T. Shaw (American, 1861–1945)

Arm and Torch of the Statue of Liberty, ca. 1876

Black ink and touches of white lead pigment and scratching out on card

191/8 x 141/8 inches

The New York Historical, Samuel T. Shaw Memorial Collection, 1946.385

12. Lillian Schiffman (American, 1919–2011)

Ellis Island in the Early 1900s, 1997

Oil on canvas

24¾ x 28¾ inches (framed)

The New York Historical, Gift

of the artist in memory of her son Paul Schiffman, 2000.926

13. Stafford M. Northcote (American, 1864–1949)

Tong Yin Yee Shung Gun, Chinese Laundry, 1899

Oil on canvas

20 x 24 inches

The New York Historical, Gift of George A. Zabriskie, 1946.255

14. Ivan Wilson (Heiltsuk Nation, born 1953)

Commemorative cane, 2008

Wood

37 x 2¼ x 2¼ inches

The New York Historical, Gift of Lou and Barbara Grumet, 2010.24.101

15. Augusta Savage (American, 1892–1962)

Lift Every Voice and Sing, ca. 1939

White metal cast with a black patina

10¾ x 9½ x 4 inches

The New York Historical, Coaching Club Acquisition Fund, 2019.90

16-19. Unidentified photographers

Gelatin silver prints

Patricia D. Klingenstein

Library, The New York Historical, Paul Gillespie Collection of World’s Fair Materials

Lift Every Voice and Sing in front of the Contemporary Arts Building at the 1939 New York World’s Fair, 1939 5 x 7 inches

“Ferocious Killers” at the 1939 New York World’s Fair, 1939

51/8 x 7 inches

African American visitors in front of the statue of George Washington at the 1939 New York World’s Fair, 1939 4¼ x 3¾ inches

African American visitors to the 1939 New York World’s Fair, 1939

4 x 51/8 inches

20. Published by Currier and Ives (American, 1834–1907)

The Lincoln Statue, in Lincoln Square, Washington, D.C., unveiled April 14th 1876, 1876

Lithograph

16½ x 11 inches

Patricia D. Klingenstein Library, The New York Historical

21-22. Unidentified makers

Copper 11/8 inches (each)

The New York Historical, Purchase, 2006.21.2, 2006.21.1

Token, Am I Not a Man & a Brother, ca. 1800

Token, Am I Not a Woman & a Sister, 1838

23. Josiah Wedgwood (English, 1730-1795)

Anti-Slavery Seal , Am I Not a Man & a Brother, ca. 1790-1800

Black basalt or jasperware porcelain

7/8 x ¾ inches

Fairfield University Art Museum, Gift of the Benjamin Ortiz and Victor P. Torchia Jr. Collection, 2021, 2021.06.01

24. Alison Saar

(American, born 1956)

Model for Harriet’s Escape Tile (archival material related to “Swing Low”), 2005

Acrylic on foamcore

10 x 10 inches

The New York Historical, Purchased through the generosity of Charles and Belinda Bralver, 2020.39.2

25. Unidentified photographer I Sell the Shadow to Support the Substance, 1864

37/8 x 27/16 inches

26. Sojourner Truth (American, 1797–1883) with Olive Gilbert (American, 1801–1884)

Narrative of Sojourner Truth , 1875

7 ½ x 5 x 3/8 inches (closed)

Patricia D. Klingenstein Library, The New York Historical

27. Barbara Chase-Riboud (born Philadelphia, PA, 1939 – lives in Paris)

Maquette (Sojourner Truth Monument), 1999

Bronze

20 x 24 x 14 inches

The New York Historical, Purchase, 2007.13

28. Alison Saar (American, born 1956)

Maquette for Swing Low: Harriet Tubman Memorial , 2007

Bronze

22¼ x 24 x 13½ inches

The New York Historical, Purchase, 2009.34

29. Kara Walker (American, born 1969)

Maquette for The Katastwóf Karavan , 2017

Painted laser-cut stainless steel

91/4 x 143/4 x 5½ inches

The New York Historical, Purchase, Coaching Club Acquisition Fund, 2017.64

Programs

Events listed below with a location are live, in-person programs. When possible, those events will also be streamed on Arts & Minds Live and the recordings posted to the Museum’s YouTube channel.

Thursday, September 18, 5:30 p.m.

Opening Night Lecture*: Monuments: Commemoration and Controversy

Wendy Nālani E. Ikemoto, Vice President and Chief Curator, The New York Historical Dolan School of Business Event Hall and streaming

Thursday, September 18, 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Reception: Monuments: Commemoration and Controversy

Bellarmine Hall, Great Hall and Bellarmine Hall Galleries

Monday, October 6, 5 p.m.

Lecture*: Latinx Monuments in the United States

Marisa Lerer, PhD, Director of Education, Creative Capital Bellarmine Hall, Diffley Board Room and streaming

Thursday, October 9, noon inperson, 1 p.m. streaming

Art in Focus: Johannes Adam Simon Oertel, Pulling Down the Statue of King George III, New York City, 1852-1853, oil on canvas

Bellarmine Hall Galleries

Thursday, November 6, noon in-person, 1 p.m. streaming

Art in Focus: Stafford Mantle Northcote, Tong Yin Yee Shung Gun, Chinese Laundry, 1899, oil on canvas

Bellarmine Hall Galleries

Thursday, November 6, 5 p.m. Lecture*: Sculpting the Past: Art, Identity, and Commemoration in Public Space

Kelley H. Di Dio, PhD, Rush C. Hawkins Professor of Art History, University of Vermont Barone Campus Center, Dogwood Room and streaming

Saturday, September 20, 12:302 p.m. and 2:30-4 p.m.

Family Day: Make Your Monument!

Bellarmine Hall Galleries and Museum Classroom

(Space limited; registration required. Suitable for ages 4-10)

fairfield.edu/museum/ monuments

*Part of the Edwin L. Weisl, Jr. Lectureships in Art History, funded by the Robert Lehman Foundation

Thank You!

The Fairfield University Art Museum is deeply grateful to the following corporations, foundations, and government agencies for their generous support of this year’s exhibitions and programs. We also acknowledge the generosity of the Museum’s 2010 Society members, together with the many individual donors who are keeping our excellent exhibitions and programs free and accessible to all and who support our efforts to build and diversify our permanent collection.