ABOUT US

Reclaiming The Monument is a projection based protest art project headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, whose body of work addresses systemic racism, human rights, and historical narratives through public art. Our work has been featured widely in media and publications throughout the world and has become an iconic part of the movement to address issues of inequality in historical memory.

 

This project was founded by artists Dustin Klein and Alex Criqui in the wake of the death of George Floyd, as a spontaneous reaction to the violence the artists witnessed around the nation and in their own city. By utilizing the peaceful and nondestructive medium of light, the two artists hoped they could amplify the voices of the movement around them and turned to the city streets and monuments of their hometown, Richmond, Virginia, where their projection work on the Robert E. Lee Monument at Marcus-David Peters Circle quickly became a beacon to help keep attention on the reclamation that was taking place in the former capital of the Confederacy.

 

Klein and Criqui’s work at Marcus-David Peters Circle has grown into an expansive project that saw the artists spend over two months creating protest art on a nightly basis as they helped to recontextualize the Confederate monuments on Richmond’s historic Monument Avenue. Their work in that space continues to this day.

 

Reclaiming the Monument has developed over time to include fundraising projects for national and local nonprofits, public speaking engagements, and the continued creation of acclaimed light based art installations.

 

Our goal is to continue to address the neglected historical and social narratives in our community and in communities around the world through projection based art, and to help put the tools, knowledge, and skills we utilize in our own work into the hands of others to create greater access to utilizing light as a peaceful means of protest and resistance.