Beyond Granite: Pulling Together Exhibition Closes on the National Mall

Partners Celebrate Success of Inaugural Exhibition and Plan for Future

As the Beyond Granite inaugural exhibition closes this week on the National Mall, the partners are celebrating Beyond Granite: Pulling Together for bringing six extraordinary artists and six powerful stories to the National Mall, offering gratitude for all who helped make it possible, celebrating the success of the inaugural installation, and announcing their commitment to bringing a future iteration of Beyond Granite, both on and around the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in the coming years.

The Trust for the National Mall, the National Capital Planning Commission and the National Park Service are partnering to lead the Beyond Granite initiative, supported by the Mellon Foundation.

“Over the past month, Beyond Granite: Pulling Together accomplished what we hoped it would do. It created new opportunities for more of America’s stories to be told in our nation’s capital in a way that protected the National Mall’s open spaces.” said Marcel Acosta, National Capital Planning Commission Executive Director. “With the lessons learned from this successful pilot, the partners will work together to make Beyond Granite a permanent program for temporary artworks.”

The partners worked with curators Paul Farber and Salamishah Tillet for Monument Lab and the six incredible artists who brought the inaugural exhibit, Beyond Granite: Pulling Together, to life. Derrick Adams, Tiffany Chung, Ashon T. Crawley, vanessa german, Paul Ramírez Jonas and Wendy Red Star designed the art installations displayed on the Mall as part of the exhibition.

The Beyond Granite initiative was designed to test the power and the impact of curated temporary art installations using the platform of the National Mall to determine how the installations can help create a more vibrant dialogue in conversation with the monuments and memorials in the nation’s most iconic commemorative space. The initiative is focused on ways that the pilot exhibition can be replicated and continued in future years beyond the term of this inaugural exhibition – both on the National Mall, around Washington, D.C., and beyond.

“The goal of Beyond Granite was to determine, given the constraints of a finite space, how the National Mall can stay relevant by responding to current events and presenting our history in innovative ways,” said Jeff Reinbold, Superintendent of the National Park Service’s National Mall and Memorial Parks. “We were extremely pleased over the past month to see both how the artists achieved this goal and how the exhibition was embraced by so many visitors to the Mall.”

“As we bring this pilot exhibition to a close, we will begin to assess its impact and legacy and explore opportunities for funding future iterations. We look forward to sharing more about the impact of this inaugural exhibit and what it means for the future. We are grateful to all who have followed the project and to all who played a role in making this exhibition possible on the National Mall,” said Teresa Durkin, Trust for the National Mall Executive Vice President.

BEYOND GRANITE BY THE NUMBERS:

• Total Visitors: 2 million (estimated)

• Moving Moments:

  • Visitors were brought to tears of joy and poignancy

  • Two couples were engaged at the artworks (The Soil You See... and HOMEGOING)

  • Thousands of children giggled with delight and ran ahead when they discovered the playground on the Mall (America’s Playground: DC)

• Newspapers Handed Out: 15,000 (estimated)

• Total Estimate Social Media: 20,000 social media interactions reaching 72 million (estimated)

• Total News Stories: 417 total print and broadcast stories

• Number of Times the Bell Was Run at “Let Freedom Ring”: 20,000 (estimated)

• Number of Tours Led by Partner Staff: 20+ tours for local planning and design groups, federal agencies, community members, youth groups and school students ranging from kindergarten to college, including Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington and the Annandale Teen Club.

PLANS FOR THE ARTWORK TO LIVE BEYOND THE EXHIBIT:

• AMERICA’S PLAYGROUND: DC: Will be stored and re-installed at a public park in Washington, D.C. Stay tuned for an announcement!

• THE SOIL YOU SEE…: Will be re-installed at Tippet Rise Art Center in Fishtail, MT.

• OF THEE WE SING: Will travel to the Frick Museum in Pittsburgh, PA.

• FOR THE LIVING: Materials and rope will be given to artists or donated.

• HOMEGOING: The music composition and performance recorded as part of the auditory exhibit is available for streaming. It will also be performed at the Rothko Chapel in Houston, TX later this year.

• LET FREEDOM RING: Will be stored, with opportunities to travel as a public art installation. Announcements forthcoming.