Known for its association with the battle for political and social rights, Faneuil Hall itself raises a central contradiction, one often overlooked by historical interpretation of this space. The site memorializes the merchant Peter Faneuil, an enslaver who made his money through the transatlantic slave trade, whose riches built the marketplace he gifted to Boston, Over the last decade, artists and activists have called for the renaming of Faneuil Hall. Artists have come forward to propose or install new public art at Faneuil Hall, art that speaks to history in this space, as well as contemporary issues around relevant questions about freedom, social justice, and the role of monuments and public space.
These conversations prompt questions about the art installed in and around this historic public space. Over 40 works of art–paintings and sculptures–are installed in Faneuil Hall’s historic second floor meeting space, the Great Hall. They inspire questions about what this space and place has meant over time and how the city might reimagine this public gallery. What themes and histories might be represented here? What is the meaning of Faneuil Hall in the 21st century, informed by the city’s and the nation’s pasts, as well as the present? Whose stories might appear? What should a 21st century gallery at Faneuil Hall look like?
Prompted by the Boston Art Commission’s interest in using art to engage with broader and more diverse histories associated with the site on which Faneuil Hall sits, students in HIST 625 embarked on a project to consider new historical themes for interpreting history at this site. In the first phase of the work, students researched what we know about the “history” of the Great Hall gallery and its site. This required research in previous studies of the site, and especially the records of Boston from 1740 to the present, to determine:
- when and how and by whom the extant artworks were chosen,
- the decisions debated and made about choosing artwork over time
- the history that is represented and the history that is ignored;
- What do the debates/discussion about choosing and installing art for this gallery reveal about the changing meanings and uses of Faneuil Hall, Boston, history, and the nation?
- What histories are left out, and how might we tell that history via new installations in the gallery?
In the second phase of the project students reimagined the gallery as one that would reflect a 21st century understanding of the meaning of Faneuil Hall and Boston’s history and the struggles represented at this site. Indeed, the Hall has been a public space theoretically open to use by the public since 1742. A newly imagined Great Hall gallery might include some of the art currently installed, and it could include new art created for this space. A reconceived gallery could showcase and interpret other material culture, such as artifacts and documents. It could feature media pieces that interpret the meaning of the Hall and its significance in Boston’s history. These are just a few examples.
Students worked in teams to write proposals for interpretive plans for creating a 21st century gallery for Faneuil Hall. What would it look like today? What is the message? Who is included? How are they represented? Who chooses? On May 2, 2023, students presented their proposals for new interpretive ideas and strategies and examples in the context of NPS themes and priorities and newer interpretive focus exemplified in their recent wayside panel and an exhibition on slavery in Boston.
Leave a comment