Nation's first permanent Memorial to Survivors of Sexual Violence celebrated in virtual ceremony Oct. 10
Sunday, October 11, 2020 at 7:31AMMemorial now open at Boom Island Park
The public is invited to join victims/survivors and allies to celebrate the completion of the nation’s first, permanent, public memorial to honor survivors of sexual violence, located at Boom Island Park, with a virtual event on Saturday, October 10, at 10 am. Keynote speakers include Tarana Burke, activist and founder of the Me Too movement, and V (formally Eve Ensler), activist, author and playwright best known for "The Vagina Monologues."
View the event on Facebook Live
Due to COVID-19, this is a virtual event, not an in-person gathering. However, the Survivors Memorial is now open to the public and can be visited any time. Boom Island Park is located along the Mississippi River at 724 Sibley St. NE, Minneapolis. The memorial is located at the south end of the park, between the playground and bridge to Nicollet Island.
Sarah Super launched the initiative for the memorial to honor survivors of sexual violence in 2015, only weeks after her ex-boyfriend broke into her home, hid in a closet, then woke her at knifepoint and raped her. He was sentenced in Ramsey County to 12 years in prison for his crime.
The Memorial was inspired by the hundreds of stories survivors shared with Super after she publicly identified herself as her ex-boyfriend's rape victim. Super was also inspired by the work of Dr. Judith Herman, one of the country's leading experts on psychological trauma and abuse.
“When I first spoke out about being raped, a lot of people said and did nothing. Their silence taught me that there is no such thing as a neutral response to sexual violence. A response will either be hurtful or healing. Silence is not neutral. Silence supports the perpetrators and never the victims," states Super.
"The Memorial is one way community members have taken a stand and voiced their support for those who've been victimized. Our goal was to break the silence and respond to sexual violence and rape culture as a community in solidarity with victims/survivors."
The Memorial design team includes: Sarah Super, landscape architects Joan MacLeod, Rachel Blaseg, and Jennifer Germain of Damon Farber Landscape Architects, a landscape architecture and planning firm based in Minneapolis, and mosaic artist Lori Greene of Mosaic on a Stick.
The Memorial is a symbol of the community’s solidarity with victims/survivors. Their experiences are honored using two metaphors: a ripple effect and mosaic. The circle of benches is intended as an invitation for dialogue. The ripple effect seen in the seating platform and extending into the landscape signifies the multiplying power of survivors' voices; when survivors tell their stories, they unconsciously inspire other survivors to tell theirs, who inspire others to tell theirs. The mosaics symbolize that broken pieces can be put together to create something whole and beautiful. (more detail on the design elements below)
Notable donors to the Memorial include Gloria Steinem, V (formally Eve Ensler), Nora McInerny, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, and the law firm of Jeff Anderson & Associates.
The Memorial team also thanks JE Dunn - memorial construction and Propel Nonprofits - fiscal sponsor.
Visit www.survivorsmemorial.org for more information.
