A series of around 20 wide, narrow steps lead up to a towering stone cylinder that sits atop four broad levels of square stones set in a brick pattern. Enormous urns filled with flowers are located on four sides of the area that these stones delineate, and the entire structure is set on a well-trimmed, grassy sloped mound near a few buildings of varying heights. Grey sky with dark clouds fills most of the image.Hector René Membreño-Canales, New Orleans LA 1, 2018 (detail).

ACCESS:Art Monuments and Materiality

ACCESS: Art artist Hector Rene Membreño-Canales is joined by Sandy Williams IV and Cedric Douglas to discuss how their work responds to the apparent permanence of monuments and the suggestion that the values they represent are similarly set in stone. Through each of their works, these artists question what and who monuments are for, as they explore materiality, mobility, and community engagement. Moderated by ACCESS: Art curator Amanda Contrada.

ACCESS: Art is an online exhibition that includes new and existing works by: Allison Maria Rodriguez, Basil El Halwagy, Benny Sato Ambush, Callie Chapman, Chanel Thervil, Cindy Lu, Hector René Membreño-Canales, Julian Shapiro-Barnum, and Ngoc-Tran Vu.

The artists in ACCESS: Art are the Boston recipients of the Red Bull Arts Microgrant. Red Bull Arts expanded their microgrant initiative for the duration 2020 which began in Detroit, to 20 cities across the US in response to the urgent need for financial assistance in the arts.