Some memorials stand erect in parks, they get passed by all types of people.
Parents
herding their kids towards the playground, the fitness guru in which the statue indicates the 12th
mile mark, and the homeless man who seeks rest on a nearby bench. Every once and a while a
person might read a description of the memorial but then they get on with their lives. Others sit
on the side of the road as cars rush by: One car has a family going on vacation, another a tired
man to work, and a third one headed to a funeral. These memorials get no attention, barely a
glance. And then there are some treated with such prestige. Sitting in the sight of a WW1
battlefield of crystal white in Washington that may be one of the biggest reasons a person
travels hundreds of miles. This variety begs the question: what are the factors that make a
memorial important? When a group or agency is planning to create a memorial, the most
important factors they should consider is the message it creates, and the cost.
The message a memorial sends can make the difference between a memorium being
powerful and liked or hated. The message needs to be applicable to its community. A paper
from Berkeley University By Kirk Savage establishes that a monument has to be something that
is rooted in its community (Doc A). People will not care unless something is relevant to them.
The message of the statue needs to be specific to a wide range of individuals specific to its
area. A memorial rooted in one's community peaks curiosity of the past of that community and
others contributions to it. Why? The simple answer is because humans are naturally
self-centered, if something has anything to do with them, they will be far more inclined to
engage with it then a memorial about one guy in the fields of Iowa who bought a farm 50 years
ago. If people are not engaged with it because the message is poor then an agency should
rethink their memorial because it will lose its purpose very quickly. This same issue came about
with a sculpture called the “Maine's Lobster Man” created for the world fair. After its debut it
travelled around museum to museum until it sat in a warehouse, being slowly torn apart by rats.
To many people an image of a man catching lobsters isn’t anything relevant to them. While
maybe to a few in Maine and related to the industry, it would only warrant a glance from the
general public. This unpopularity due to irrelevance is what caused it to be kicked to a
warehouse and degrade. This pattern would almost certainly follow for other organizations or
individuals if their memorial doesn't have an adequate message.
Another large factor is cost. Memorials can often be large and require specific upkeep.
Metals like copper and aluminum are prone to oxidation and because of such need to have
regular maintenance. This maintenance costs a lot of money over time but is significantly
needed. I was at a park last month that was located in a smaller town that was clearly not taken
care of as well as it could have been. A smaller statue sat in the park. It was decorated with red
graffiti lines of profanity, and small etched hearts with initials in the center. Not only that, the
plaque was rusted over. You couldn’t even tell what it was saying! If you can tell what is being
remembered, the whole point of the monument is gone and in a way the whole memory is just
being disrespected. Upkeep, though costly, is necessary to make sure a monument keeps its
meaning and respect for what is being remembered. Not only that, failure to upkeep takes away
from the captured moment. The land monument it sits on can also be expensive to regularly pay
for. In Savannah Memorial park, thousands of pioneer’s monuments and graves are at threat of
being removed. The organization in charge of the park does not have enough money to
maintain it and pay for the land (Doc D). If an organization or individual does not have proper
resources, it may be okay to reconsider the construction of a monument. If you fail to do so, it
can cause a huge ordeal and the memory of individuals and moments can be degraded.