New Public Art Memorial THE MANY LOSSES FROM COVID-19 Comes to Green-Wood Next Month

Three years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, more than 1.1 million people across the country-including 79,000 in New York-have lost their lives to the virus. Countless others continue to suffer from Long COVID. The mounting toll of death and diminished health has inflicted immeasurable pain, but also brought communities together to provide support and comfort to those suffering the reverberating effects of the virus.

In the memory of those impacted by the pandemic, NAMING THE LOST Memorials (NTLM), City Lore, and The Green-Wood Cemetery are collaborating on a new memorial-"The Many Losses from COVID-19." Opening on Wednesday, May 3rd, it will consist of tributes made by 20 community groups from across New York City. The memorial will hold a prominent place along Green-Wood's historic wrought-iron fence, near the Main Entrance at Fifth Avenue at 25th Street. There will be a designated area for members of the public to add their own memorial contributions.

Contributors to the memorial, including community partners, artists, and activists, will join on at Green-Wood on Thursday, May 11th from 6-8:30pm for a dedication and activation ceremony. The free event begins with opportunities to create a tribute to put on the memorial or write a poem followed by a procession from the Main Entrance to the Historic Chapel at 6:30. The ceremony will follow at 7pm and feature remarks from New York City Councilmember Alexa Avilés, traditional song and dance performances, and a participatory ritual of remembrance. It will be an opportunity to commemorate those who have died from COVID-19 and to reflect on the many other losses suffered by New Yorkers since March 2020. Registration - which is optional - to attend the event for free is at green-wood.com/naming-the-lost-memorials-activation-ceremony. For access needs and COVID-19 harm reduction information, visit namingthelost.com/memorials.

"Public COVID memorials help remind us that New Yorkers have suffered tremendous loss of life in this pandemic," Kay Turner, the project's consultant and an early project organizer. "We have also suffered other losses-loss of time, relationships, jobs, taste and smell. Many of our neighbors are stalled in the debilitating effects of Long COVID. NTLM creates memorials to recognize the many losses from COVID-19."

"Life's task is the validation of memory and the passing on of memories both in our personal and collective lives. NAMING THE LOST Memorials aims to create an annual, tangible wall of memory that does not allow the lives and souls of the many thousands of victims of the Covid Pandemic to escape our thoughts-thoughts which are needed to remember, grasp our losses, and find ways to create healthier and more compassionate communities," said Steve Zeitlin, Co-Director, City Lore.

"As our nation and city continue to recover from the pandemic, and as we begin to open our lives to a better future, we must always remember those whose lives have been forever changed by this pandemic, whether through the loss of loved ones or the ongoing healthcare needs of those who continue to suffer," said Richard J. Moylan, President of Green-Wood. "Green-Wood is proud to partner with NAMING THE LOST Memorials and City Lore, as well as all of our community partners, to present this poignant memorial."

To create this memorial, NAMING THE LOST Memorials has collaborated with 20 community groups from across the city whose constituents have suffered significant losses from COVID-19. Participants include: Casa Yurumein (Bronx); Arab American Association of New York, Guyana Cultural Association, Mixteca, Museo de Los Sures, Parent Child Relationship Association, Project Reach Youth Safe, Purelements Evolution in Dance, and Women's Empowerment Coalition of New York (Brooklyn); The City's "Missing Them", The W.O.W. Project, and Yaffa Cultural Arts (Manhattan); Bangladesh Institute of Performing Arts, the Jews of Jackson Heights, and International Dancer Zaman (Queens); La Colmena and Staten Island Museum (Staten Island); and Jews of Color arts workshop ("The Workshop"), Long Covid Justice, and New Moon Sisters (multiple locations throughout the city).

"Through COVID we were able to see what many activists have been saying for years; that black, brown and immigrant communities are always disproportionately impacted when a crisis hits. Through this memorial we make it clear that we will keep pushing forward said Alejandra Moran, Board Member of La Colmena.

"Naming the Lost Memorials is important because we get the opportunity to take pause, remember, and pay our respect to Guyanese and friends who have succumbed to COVID-19. We journey through the grief together, as we get a chance to honor and pay tribute to them," said Rose October, Assistant Cultural Director, Guyana Cultural Association (GCA) of NY.

Anna Roberts-Gevalt of Long Covid Justice, said, "We seek to hold space for members of our community to share their stories of sick and disabled grief, strength and hope, as we navigate the difficulties of living with our symptoms-and navigate the lack of care, help, and support."

NAMING THE LOST Memorials is a small team of artists, activists, and folklorists that has been curating memorial sites in New York City to name and remember victims of the COVID-19 pandemic since May 2020. They created homegrown memorials in a public setting to draw attention to the astounding number of COVID deaths and to give people a place to name their lost loved ones. Over Memorial Day weekend that year, public memorial sites were created across the city, including one at Green-Wood. The 2023 memorial, "THE MANY LOSSES FROM COVID-19", will be on view beginning May 3rd and can be used as a spontaneous mourning site until May 29th.

NAMING THE LOST Memorials and City Lore will continue to help communities create Covid-19 memorials in the spring and fall of 2023-2025. As part of The Monuments Project, its nationwide initiative to rethink the meaning and creation of monuments, the Mellon Foundation provided a major grant to support this work. Selected artifacts of these ephemeral memorials will be archived at the New-York Historical Society for future exhibitions and research into the impact of the pandemic. Documentation of the memorials also will become part of an updated, interactive NAMING THE LOST Memorials website (namingthelost.com/memorials) where key elements will be translated into some of the many languages spoken by New Yorkers.

Learn more and read what community partners are saying by visiting the NAMING THE LOST Memorials website here.