Baltimore-based interdisciplinary artist Ada Pinkston has spent the last decade transforming how communities interact with monuments, memory, and the stories we tell about ourselves. Her long-running project, Landmarked: Make Memory Move, invites audiences into an immersive reflection on history while challenging what we believe should be preserved, honored, or reimagined. Launched in 2015 during a period of national debate over Confederate monuments, Landmarked emerged from Pinkston’s desire to understand how public symbols shape our collective consciousness. With more than 1,500 Confederate memorials once standing across the United States — and at least 48 now removed — Pinkston saw creative possibility not only in the monuments themselves but also in the empty spaces left behind. For her, these vacant pedestals are metaphors for the silences in American history, prompting questions about whose stories are elevated and whose remain unspoken.
Landmarked unfolds through a three-phase process that blends community dialogue, visual art, and live performance. The first phase centers on collective inquiry, where Pinkston brings workshops and conversations to libraries, community centers, and neighborhoods where monuments have been dismantled. Participants explore themes of public memory, history, “herstory,” and belonging while reflecting on a central question: What would a monument for all people look like, and where should it stand? The second phase transforms these conversations into material artworks. Pinkston interprets the insights gathered from communities through fabric-based assemblages, digital video, and sound sculpture, creating immersive installations that hold the emotional and historical weight of the dialogues. The third phase brings the project back into the public sphere through performance art, activating the former monument sites with new meaning and offering audiences a chance to experience reimagined forms of commemoration.
On Thursday, December 18, 2025, from 12 PM to 2 PM, Pinkston will present the next chapter of the project through a curated performance experience titled Make Memory Move. Designed for a small invited group, this gathering will guide attendees through the origins of the project, showcase its evolution, and allow them to take part in the creative process as it continues to unfold. Through movement, sound, and reflective participation, guests will encounter the dynamic nature of memory and consider how public spaces can serve as vessels for both healing and imagination. Space is limited, with reserved seating offered to the first 10 guests who RSVP by December 12. Registration is available at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/make-memory-move-tickets-1976798515574. More information about the project can be found at: https://landmarkedproject.com/.
While Landmarked responds to the legacy of Confederate monuments, Pinkston’s work ultimately moves beyond protest to propose a new vision of what monuments can be. Instead of static structures carved in stone, she imagines monuments as shared experiences — fluid, participatory, and grounded in community storytelling. Through Landmarked, Pinkston reframes public memory as something that moves and breathes. Her performances, installations, and workshops invite audiences to consider not only what we choose to commemorate but also how those decisions shape our relationships with the past and future. In her hands, the monument becomes an evolving work of art, one that honors the presence, resilience, and voices of all people.
