The city of Los Angeles announced Thursday the finalist team for a memorial to honor victims of the 1871 Chinese Massacre, which aims to raise public awareness about the tragic day when at least 18 Chinese Americans were killed.
The city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument selected artist Tsung Nicolás Leong and writer Judy Chui-Hua Chung to create the memorial. They were among six finalist teams that presented renderings to a panel and public earlier this year.
Leong and Chung expressed in a joint statement that they were humbled by the historic significant of the memorial and honored to be chosen from a group of “such talented finalists.”
“While we are memorializing a massacre that reveals the long history of anti-Asian violence, we are also acknowledging that Asian Americans have been deeply rooted here since the beginnings of this city, state and country,” Leong and Chung said in a joint statement.
Overall, the department received more than 176 proposals to its request for a physical memorial at one of two primary sites along the 400 block of North Los Angeles Street, near the Chinese American Museum and close to the historical site of the massacre.
“There are few things more important than knowing our full history, including, and maybe especially, when that history involves violent injustice, hidden out of sight,” said Mayor Karen Bass in a statement. “The city is taking these steps to honor the victims of the 1871 Chinese Massacre in order to better understand our past and build a better future.”
Daniel Tarica, general manager of the Department of Cultural Affairs, added the memorial would also address contemporary concerns about race, intolerance and violence.
“It strives to tell the story of the little-known largest mass killing in Los Angeles history and to convey a broader, more universal message,” Tarica said in a statement.
Arturo Chavez, general manager of El Pueblo, noted that El Pueblo is the “current site” where this massacre occurred.
“It is only fitting that we recognize and honor the victims of this horrible event,” Chavez said in a statement. “It is time that Los Angeles and the world recognize and honor the victims of intolerance and racism so that we never forget the past and so it will never occur again.”
The Department of Cultural Affairs issued a request for ideas in August 2022 after an extensive, yearlong community engagement process spurred by recommendations in the 2021 Past Due report of the Mayor’s Office Civic Memory Working Group.
An evaluation panel of arts and design experts was formed to review submissions and choose six design teams, which the received a stipend of $15,000 each to develop their concepts further and present them in a public forum.
The evaluation panel ultimately selected Leong and Chung’s design and for them to develop the memorial. Felicia Filler, public art division director for the Department of Cultural Affairs, said of Leong and Chung’s proposal that it “sensitively addresses the difficult history” of the massacre, striking a balance between honoring and remembering and educating Angelenos about the “painful” event.
“We commend the city of Los Angeles for shepherding this effort and send our best wishes to the finalist team,” said Michael Truong, executive director of the Chinese American Museum. “When the finished work is unveiled, we look forward to joining together in reflection and healing.”