Armenian American Museum Presents “Commemoration as Public Art” at Brand Library & Art Center

GLENDALE– on Saturday, April 30, 2016, the Armenian American Museum and the Brand Library & Art Center will host “Commemoration as Public Art”, a discussion panel examining the role of permanent public art and architecture as a form of commemoration. Public art memorials are the most public expression of commemoration of past atrocities. The artists, architects, and activists who create them often walk a thin line between their vision and the public’s expectations of what a commemorative memorial should be. This event will shed light on the unique challenges artists face in light of bringing these forms of commemoration into fruition.

The discussion will be moderated by Ara Oshagan, artist and City of Glendale Arts and Culture commissioner and will feature architect Hagy Belzberg, lead designer of the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust; Phyllis Kim, executive director of the Korean American Forum of California and designer of the Comfort Women memorial in Glendale’s Central Park; and Catherine Menard, designer of the City of Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial. The panelists will briefly present their own commemorative projects and discuss how commemorative public art can create unique spaces for healing and communal catharsis but also become sites of fierce contention.

“Commemoration as Public Art” will take place on Saturday, April 30, 2016, 1 PM, at the Brand Library & Art Center: 1601 W. Mountain Street. Glendale, CA 91201. All programs are free and open to the public.

This program is one in a series taking place in conjunction with “Armenia: An Open Wound” an exhibition presented by The City of Glendale and the Library, Arts & Culture Department in partnership with the Armenian American Museum and curated by the Museo Memoria y Tolerancia in Mexico City. The exhibit will be on view at the Brand Library Art Galleries between April 16 and June 11, 2016 during the library’s regular hours: Tuesday and Thursday 12-8pm, Wednesday 12-6pm, and Friday and Saturday, 10am-5pm.

For more information about the “Armenia: An Open Wound” exhibition and featured programs, please visit www.ArmenianAmericanMuseum.org or contact the Brand Library: (818) 548-2051