National Park Service Statement on Beyond Granite Partnership
As proud stewards of the National Mall, the National Park Service’s partnership on the Beyond Granite temporary artwork program ensures that our Nation’s important narratives continue to unfold on this premier civic space. Beyond Granite responds to the question: “What stories remain untold on the National Mall?” The National Park Service is excited to partner with the Trust for the National Mall and the National Capital Planning Commission in this endeavor and is grateful to the Trust for bringing together experts in public art and history to independently develop the themes, select the artists, and curate the exhibition. The National Park Service provides technical assistance in the siting and permitting of the installations. From its inception, the Mall was intended to be a grand composition of open spaces, monuments, and memorials to celebrate and commemorate important events and people in American history. Storytelling through temporary exhibitions complements permanent memorials and provides greater opportunity for expression. Artwork, performances, and other temporary exhibitions can do what permanent memorials cannot—they can respond to current events and experiment with innovative ways to present our history. While the space on the Mall is finite, Beyond Granite expands the canvas so the Mall stays relevant and vibrant for generations to come.
BACKGROUND
The Mall has become a transcendent space where “We the People” come to exercise our speech and assembly rights and to celebrate our freedoms, our history and culture, our unity and diversity, and our way of life. For more than 200 years, the National Mall has inspired Americans and the world as a symbol of our nation and its democratic values. At its inception in 1791 as the center point for the Nation's capital, the Mall's architecture was designed to preserve its open spaces and create a grand, unified composition of monuments and memorials that celebrate and commemorate important events and people in American history. The National Mall was a focal point to the L’Enfant Plan for the city centered on a grand and monumental open space linked by sweeping vistas. The 1902 McMillan Plan further developed L’Enfant’s vision for the Mall as a grand space linking the branches of government and great cultural institutions of our nation. The significance of the Mall as a space for National discussion and remembrance has intensified over time and contributes to its listing in the National Register of Historic Places. Through the 2003 Commemorative Works Act amendment, Congress recognized the importance of preserving the National Mall’s open spaces and prohibited new permanent commemorations in this space. In 2010, the National Mall Plan laid forth a vision for maintaining the National Mall in perpetuity as a place to gather, honor, and reflect.