National Mall’s planned Native American Veterans Memorial launches design competition

In 2012, Congress commissioned the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian to create a memorial on the National Mall for American Indian servicemen and women. Local art blog East City Art reports that the museum is now accepting designs for a National Native American Veterans Memorial with the hope to open the new memorial on November 11, 2020.

Entries will be accepted through January 9, 2018. The two-phase design competition will announce five finalists on January 25, 2018. The exact location on the National Mall where the memorial may eventually be placed is not specified in the Smithsonian’s press release.

The jury is composed of:

• Larry Ulaaq Ahvakana (Inupiaq), artist, Ahvakana Fine Art
• Stephanie Birdwell (Cherokee), director, Veterans Affairs, Office of Tribal Government Relations
• Johnnetta Betsch Cole, director emerita, Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art
• Edwin Fountain, general counsel, American Battle Monuments Commission
• Mark Kawika McKeague (Native Hawaiian), director of cultural planning, Group 70 International Inc.
• Brian McCormack (Nez Perce), principal landscape architect, McCormack Landscape Architecture
• Lillian Pitt (Wasco/Yakima/Warm Springs), artist
• Herman Viola, curator emeritus, Smithsonian
• Kevin Gover (Pawnee), alternate juror, director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian

According to the Huffington Post, “American Indians serve in their country’s armed forces in greater numbers per capita than any other ethnic group, and they have served with distinction in every major conflict for over 200 years.”

• Call for Design Submissions for the National Native American Veterans Memorial [East City Art]

• American Indians Serve in the U.S. Military in Greater Numbers Than Any Ethnic Group and Have Since the Revolution [The Huffington Post]

• Call for Design Submissions for the National Native American Veterans Memorial [Smithsonian]