Rethinking Memorialization
Junipero Serra Statue Re-examined
Shaping San Francisco Hosts Artists, Researchers, and the Public
Shaping San Francisco, from March 2025–March 2026, was chosen as a Community Engagement Consultant by the San Francisco Arts Commission for the "Shaping Legacy: San Francisco Monuments and Memorials" project. For this case study, we examined memory and memorialization in relation to the Padre Junipero Serra monument (one of several public monuments toppled on Juneteenth 2020 in the wake of the May 2020 police murder of George Floyd) by facilitating artist activations, community history circles, and public events exploring this history. Four other monuments were explored by local community organizations: Christopher Columbus by California Migration Museum, Dewey Monument by SOMA Pilipinas, Francis Scott Key by Youth Speaks, and Ulysses S. Grant by American Indian Cultural District.
Part of Shaping Legacy: San Francisco Monuments & Memorials,
a project of San Francisco Arts Commission, with Adriana Camarena, Kim Shuck, and Chris Cuadrado. Thanks to Association of Ramaytush Ohlone for guidance throughout the year.
Shaping San Francisco’s year-long case study of the Padre Junípero Serra statue included a folklife-based, community-led research process centered on memory-keeping practices. Indigenous community researchers explored everyday practices from their own cultures that carry collective knowledge. The researchers included members of Urban Native communities, Indigenous migrants from Latin America and the Caribbean, and urban youth. Their research invites reflection on how genocide, relocation, and migration continue to erode Indigenous ways of knowing, and how communities continue to protect and hold on to them. The process was facilitated by storyteller Adriana Camarena.
We welcome you to explore the videos produced by our community historians, recordings of our Public Talks, and the short film made by artist Chris "L7" Cuadrado, all presented publicly in February-March 2026.
The public is also encouraged to read the essay describing the history of the actual Serra monument and the context in which it was erected in 1907, written by Chris Carlsson. For further reading on the historical moment and the role of monuments and statues click the link.
For further information on monuments nationwide, great resources are available at monumentlab.com
