J. Decker introduction to Place: Narratives, Visualizations, Access and Contexts

     My research over the past two decades has centered on place, first through scholarly research in the field of reception theory, resulting in an examination of an engraved series of prints that showcased a region that became a 19th century tourist attraction; then and, in a more sustained manner, through my work as a practitioner as well as a scholar of public art. As a conservation and education practitioner in Cleveland, Ohio, I managed the public sculpture collection for the city, researched the city’s historic and contemporary collections of public sculpture, worked with contracted conservators to determine risk assessment, wrote grants for conservation treatment, and managed volunteers to take care of the sculptures—their sculptures—each summer. While working very closely at sculpture sites, I began to see first-hand how critical such spaces, places, and sites were to the construction of identity—in terms of individuals, communities, and regions. Then, I turned my attention toward researching monuments (particularly memorials tied to the American Civil War) and the ways in which they construct, deconstruct, and (even) obfuscate identity and memory.  

John Constable's English Landscape, Art Institute of Chicago

Re-dedication of public sculpture to Ohio educator, Harvey Rice. See here.

I am leading a public history site visit based upon my research on site and memory
(paper: "Louisville’s Confederate Monument: Narratives of Commemoration, Loss, and Gender")

I Skuggan av Kriget: Museet som Flyktingförläggning, Malmöhus Slott, Malmö MuseerJune 2015

Thus, my interest in the topic of place relates to the ways in which we construct place and in which place is constructed — physically as well as conceptually. What narratives are invested in these sites? How do we visualize the narratives as well as the experiences at sites over time? How do we gain access to them? Who garners control over that? And what, ultimately, contributes to a site's context—and our context?

My first visit to Malmö in June/July 2015.
The Turning Torso is in the back left of this frame;  
Ribersborg beach is in the foreground. How does each of these sites constitute place?