Following Monumental: Richmond’s Monuments (1607-2018), the Valentine hosts a follow-up exhibition entitled Monument Avenue: General Demotion/General Devotion. The Storefront for Community Design and the mObstudiO at Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts invited teams of planners, architects, designers, artists and individuals to participate in a national design competition to conceptually re-imagine Monument Avenue and contribute to this important dialogue about race, memory, the urban landscape and public art.

When Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney’s Monument Avenue Commission submitted its recommendations for the future of the city’s Confederate statues, it noted a program initiated by the VCUarts mObstudiO and Storefront for Community Design. The community partners received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to imagine possibilities for the 5.4-mile street, and are currently hosting an international competition, Monument Avenue: General Demotion/General Devotion, to generate ideas from architects, planners, designers, independent artists and individuals.