A Long Walk Home (ALWH), an arts organization that empowers young people to end violence against girls and women, is building an enduring monument to honor Rekia Boyd and Black Girlhood within Chicago’s Douglass Park in the North Lawndale neighborhood. The Rekia Boyd Monument Project follows a decade of public art activations in and around Douglass Park by ALWH’s Girl/Friends Leadership Institute. The project poses a central question: How do we build a monument that commemorates Rekia Boyd’s legacy and celebrates Black girlhood? The monument will be commissioned through an open call process for artists to collaboratively envision a public artwork that will also engage Black girls and young women as citizen-artists in the process of building the monument. The Rekia Boyd Monument Project is led by A Long Walk Home, in partnership with the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), Chicago Parks District, and Monument Lab, and is a part of the Chicago Monuments Project, which is supported by a grant from the Mellon Foundation. The monument will be commissioned through an open call process for Chicago-based and/or connected artists to collaboratively envision a public artwork, engaging Black girls and young women as citizen-artists throughout the process.
To be considered for this work, A Long Walk Home will be assessing applicants along the following criteria:
- Artistic Vision and Relevance – The artist’s work should demonstrate a deep understanding of the historical, social, and cultural significance of commemorating Rekia Boyd and honoring Black Girlhood.
- Commitment to Community – The artist should demonstrate an ability to work collaboratively with community stakeholders, including a proven track record of meaningful engagement and creating space for public participation in community-based public art processes.
- Past Body of Work – The artist should demonstrate creativity and technical expertise in their practice, as well as the ability to engage diverse publics. Their portfolio should reflect a commitment to storytelling, accessibility, and collaboration. Experience with large-scale public projects is welcome, as is a clear vision for how this opportunity advances the artist’s practice.
As a first step, interested artists are invited to submit short responses regarding their interest in the project, work samples, and a CV through this online form by Thursday, July 31, 2025, 4:00 p.m. CST (5:00 p.m. EST).
A Long Walk Home, with support from Monument Lab, will invite up to five artists to prepare final proposals. Each artist will participate in a half-day site visit to Douglass Park and will have the opportunity to connect with stakeholders as part of the final proposal development process. Finalists will be compensated $3,000 each for their work on the proposals. Each submission should include a proposed budget, timeline, renderings, preferred fabricators (if applicable), and an artistic statement. Applications will be reviewed by a Monument Advisory Committee. Artists will be invited to Chicago for in-person presentations, with travel expenses covered by A Long Walk Home. The Committee’s review will result in a final recommendation to A Long Walk Home. This phase concludes with the contracting process, followed by the announcement of the selected artist.
The selected project will be supported with a total production budget of $500,000 for materials, fabrication, and implementation costs. The artist will also receive a fee of $100,000 in recognition of their creative vision and work. Additional support will be available for programming, signage, interpretive materials and documentation.
Monument Lab staff will host an informational webinar during the open call period for interested applicants, scheduled for Thursday, July 10, 2025, at 5:00 pm CST (6:00 pm EST). A captioned recording of the webinar will be available online for those unable to attend.
The Rekia Boyd Monument is a part of the Chicago Monuments Project, which is supported by a grant from the Mellon Foundation, in partnership with the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.
Additional application support is available throughout the open call period by emailing RBMP@monumentlab.com.
To learn more about this opportunity, download The Rekia Boyd Monument Dossier.