Boston uses $3-million grant for temporary 'un-monuments' to tell stories not reflected in our permanent statuary

Boston is using a $3-millon grant from the Mellon Foundation for a series of temporary art installations and events across the city.

The Un-Monument program will include a "public conversation series" of talks at the Embrace on Boston Common.

These projects include a commemoration of the weekly toll of gun violence in the U.S., an immersive sculptural installation of a large Mayan pyramid highlighting the resilience of immigrant communities in Massachusetts, and live painting by local graffiti-artists alongside community dance and music events across the city.

• "Spray It Loud, Display It Proud" Series: Monumental Manifestations of Community in the Medium of Graffiti by A Trike Called Funk with local graffiti artists
• Kinfolk Monuments Project by Kinfolk, led by Idris Brewster
• Future Monument to the Trees of the Public Garden by Katherine Farrington
• Generation Peace Poles by Ruth Henry
• We Were Here Too by Roberto Mighty
• Going to Ground by LaRissa Rogers and Zalika Azim
• The Gun Violence Memorial Project by Hank Willis Thomas and MASSDesign Group
• Boston Chinatown: Stories on The Streets by Alison Yueming Qu and The Lot Next Door by Jaronzie Harris

The talks at the Embrace include:

July 31 at 5:30 p.m.: Poetry, Public Art, and the Politics of Memory
Speakers: Professor Joshua Bennett and Professor Imani Perry

August 21 at 5:30 p.m., Ideas of America/New England
Speaker: Kerri Greenidge