New Yorker’s Overcoming Challenges: 2020
Artist Name: Melissa Brador, Almagul Zhumantayeva, Debbie Warner, Rebeca Torres
Artist Statement
In an effort to represent important events that took place this past year in New York City, our monument depicts photos representing COVID-19, The 2020 Presidential Election, police brutality, and The Black Lives Matter Movement and is located in Times Square. Using a collection of our oral histories as inspiration, we decided everything that happened this year is worth mentioning. Everyone in New York City has been impacted or knows someone who has. It
is important for us not to forget any of the events that took place. This monument seeks to memorialize moments and people that will never be forgotten and continue conversations about important movements. In March of 2020, New York City became the epicenter of a rapidly spreading virus known as COVID-19. This virus overwhelmed New York State’s entire medical system. There was a lack of tests, lack of medical staff, and lack of ICU beds. Most New Yorkers were ordered to stay home, including students who were transitioned into online learning. We wanted to pay homage to essential workers by including an image of them in our monument. We also wanted to highlight the importance of handwashing and wearing a mask in order to stay healthy and prevent the spread of the virus. The Black Lives Matter movement is a decentralized political social movement advocating for nonviolent civil disobedience against African American people. It was founded by: Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi. The movement became a national headline and gained international attention after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. In order to continue awareness of police brutality, we chose to include an image of protesters holding a sign reading “stop killing us”. We hope this powerful image grabs the attention of those unaware of the violence. We also decided to pay homage to victims such as George Floyd and the beautiful Breonna Taylor. Breonna Taylor was also a victim of police brutality and deserves justice.
The Presidential Election of 2020 was one that made history. On top of the violence, virus, and deaths, we had to decide who our next president would be. While New Yorkers were on edge for a while, we gained a victory. Kamilla Harris is the first woman vice president-elect. She is the first African American woman and the first South Asian woman to earn this position. In many ways, Harris’ election represents the achievement of the American dream, as she is the daughter of a mother who emigrated from India and a Jamaican immigrant father. To celebrate our victory, we chose to include a portrait of her in our monument. We highlighted the importance of voting using an image of a “VOTE” button. We even decided to showcase the brief yet long awaited results with an image of Joe Biden confronting Donald Trump.
In closing, New Yorker’s Overcoming Challenges: 2020 was created to memorialize moments that will never be forgotten. It continues and starts conversations about important movements such as: police brutality, The Black Lives Matter Movement, COVID19, and the 2020 Presidential Election. The use of drawing and photographs show the spectator exactly what went on and allows future spectators to empathize with our city today. More importantly, it unites what feels like a now divided New York City. It lets the people know that we will get through this together. 2020 is only a year out of this life we are living. Even though it presented many challenges, it woke up many people to important issues that needed to be addressed. Moreover, through continued hope, passion, and commitment, we will prevail.
