Toppling Monuments or Resurrecting Them

A chance to express your views

Queen’s University’s “Toppling Monuments Research Project (2021-2026)” is asking for public feedback on five sculpture designs, one of which will be installed in front of the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts.

The winning sculptor will receive $100,000 to cover the artist’s fee and expenses. The request for submissions closed on February 22, 2026.

The project is led by Christine Sypnowich (Philosophy, Law) with a team of 12 others working to “address the social exclusion and historical trauma inherent in current understandings of heritage.”

A media release dated April 28, 2026 says that the art installation purpose is to commemorate the “heritage narratives of the oppression, resilience, and achievements of Indigenous and racialized minority peoples.”

The winning design will be chosen from among these five sculptures.

Altar(ed) Grounds by Don Kwan

Three Sisters by Norah Ocran-Caesar

Consonance by Hooman Mehdizadehjafari

The 5th Seed by AstroSankofa Arts Initiative’s Jamera DaCosta and Quentin VerCetty

Voices from the Land by Amiel Logan and Paul Slipper

You can read more about the sculptures here.

You can vote here.

There is a display about the project and these five finalists on view at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts, 390 King Street West, until May 11th.

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Group wants the statue of Sir John A. Macdonald to return to City Park

Also, at Queen’s University, a group is working for the return of the Sir John A. Macdonald statue to City Park.

Rodrigo Garfinkle is the president of the Queen’s University Conservative Club. He and Queen’s historian Duncan McDowall are working with presidents of the federal and provincial Conservative electoral district associations and other community members for the statue’s return.

The Canadian Institute for Historical Education commissioned a Nanos telephone poll in early February. In a random survey of 305 Kingston residents, the poll found that 59% of respondents support the return of the statue with 12% somewhat supporting its return.

A video featuring Rodrigo Garfinkle making a case for a return of the statue can be seen here.

There is a petition to sign here.