Monuments to Motherhood Unveiling at Grand Army Plaza Expands Representation in Monumental Landscape

Monuments to Motherhood sculpture by artist Molly Gochman at Prospect Park in Brooklyn, NY, located near the Grand Army Plaza entrance. Courtesy of the artist / Photo by Alex Mctigue.

NYC Parks and Prospect Park Alliance are proud to unveil a new sculpture by artist and activist Molly Gochman at the Grand Army Plaza entrance at the north corner of Prospect Park. A work from the artist’s Monuments to Motherhood series, the fifteen-foot-tall bronze sculpture honors caregiving in all its forms, recognizing those who nurture, sustain, and support their communities—often in ways that go unseen. Across the country, public statuary rarely reflects these essential contributions, and the role of care remains largely overlooked in civic spaces. This sculpture offers a powerful acknowledgment of those whose labor holds society together and stands as a testament to the generations that came before us. The sculpture will stand for one year.

The unveiling will be accompanied by a season of programming at various sites, including family-friendly events in the spring and summer and a special gathering on Mother’s Day in Prospect Park, designed to engage the public in conversations about motherhood, caregiving, and how we honor our collective histories. RSVP Link here.

“This work is a monument to all of us, including the millions of people—parents, nurses, childcare workers, home health aides—who perform acts of care every day, often without recognition,” Molly Gochman shared. “It feels deeply resonant to bring this sculpture to Grand Army Plaza, a site of both public commemoration and everyday movement. My hope is that by engaging in dialogue about caregiving, we can illuminate its vital role and celebrate this universal and essential act.”

“Caregiving is truly an act of love—whether it’s tending to the soil to help plants grow, nurturing a little one taking their first steps, or sitting on a bench taking in the sun. We’re honored that Prospect Park is where Brooklynites come to care for themselves and each other—the park is truly a backbone that we all rely on for comfort and connection,” said Prospect Park Alliance President, Morgan Monaco. “The park is a natural fit as home to Monuments to Motherhood, as caregiving is embedded in so much of what we do at the Alliance through our work sustaining natural areas, fostering community, providing opportunities for wellness and more. Molly’s work is a powerful addition to Brooklyn’s monument landscape, and a step to ensure monuments reflect and honor the people who shape our communities through care and love.”

“It is so fitting that Monuments to Motherhood is taking its place in Prospect Park. Just as caregivers do, our public greenspaces make communities safer and stronger, helping New Yorkers connect with one another and find inspiration in the great outdoors. In turn, we care for our public parks through stewardship, ensuring these vital living resources remain resilient and healthy for generations to come,”said NYC Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue. “We’re proud to enhance our public spaces with world-class art installations like this, sparking moments of delight and reflection for New Yorkers and visitors alike. We’re grateful to the artist and our partners at the Prospect Park Alliance for bringing this thought-provoking piece to Brooklyn’s backyard.”

This series emerged from Gochman’s investigation into the public monument landscape, where she sought to challenge some of the prevailing narratives she discovered—dominated mostly by depictions of white men and glorifications of acts of war—and instead create a monument to the immaterial and essential act of care. Despite a national reckoning over the U.S. Monument landscape in recent years, New York City’s public statuary remains deeply imbalanced. According to City Hall, only eight of New York City’s 150 public monuments honoring historical figures are women. Through this installation, Gochman continues her work of reshaping commemoration, offering a powerful reflection on caregiving, community, and the narratives we choose to elevate in public space.

Gochman created the sculptures in the Monuments to Motherhood series using armatures built from repurposed household items, such as bowls, plastic wrap, and aluminum foil, that symbolize the hidden labor of care. These temporary structures served as the foundation for looping layers of epoxy clay coils, reflecting an interconnected network of relationships and mutual support. She then cast the sculptures at a large scale in bronze, a valuable material chosen for its association with high art and the traditional language of monuments, as well as for its ability to last longer than other metals while still holding the potential for alchemical changes.

Participation is a central feature in Gochman’s artistic practice. When visitors touch these sculptures, the natural oils from their hands will, over time, subtly alter the patina. That evolving surface echoes the unpredictable, ongoing, and enduring imprint of care in all of our lives through an act of collective creation.

The sculpture will be installed just inside the north entrance to Prospect Park, in the triangular patch of grass where East and West Drives meet. Nearby, the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial Arch—a monument commemorating veterans of the American Civil War—stands visible in the background. Positioned just past the Greenmarket Plaza, Monuments to Motherhood will be visible to all runners, cyclists, Green Market shoppers, and park-goers entering from the north, ensuring that the work remains a focal point of the park’s daily life and movement.

The installation follows the February 2025 unveiling of Monuments to Motherhood in the Memphis Medical District, where three smaller, human-scale sculptures were placed on the former site of the Confederate Nathan Bedford Forrest monument.

The Monuments to Motherhood project also includes a podcast series of the same name, exploring themes of caregiving, motherhood, artmaking, and monumentalization. The podcast serves as a companion to the installation, expanding on its themes through conversations with Alliance President, Morgan Monaco and artists, activists, and caregivers such as Eve Biddle, Alexandra Bradner, Michelle Browder, Diamond (Stylz) Collier, Paul Farber, Lawanna Kimbro, Richard Lui, Mariah Moore, and Aisha Nyandoro.

As the sculpture debuts on the five-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, it also quietly acknowledges the acts of care that sustained communities during that time and continue to do so today.

Monuments to Motherhood at Grand Army Plaza will remain on view through May 2026. More details on upcoming programming will be announced in the coming weeks.

About Molly Gochman

Molly is an artist and activist deeply engaged in social practice and focuses on activating spaces for profound collective experiences. Her practice encompasses a diverse range of mediums, including photography, sound, installation, and sculpture. Through these mediums, she often challenges and subverts conventional material boundaries to foster interaction, play, exploration, and meaningful dialogue. Molly frequently explores concepts encompassing human connection, environment, and community, rooted in the belief that life’s experiences shape us. Guided by the concept that “life leathers us,” her works not only aim to aesthetize but also reflect the passage of time through weather, wear, and change. Her practice continues to evolve with a desire to actively engage participants, inspire meaningful dialogues, find commonality, and discover shared human experiences. Originally from Texas, Molly is currently based in New York.

About Monuments to Motherhood

Molly Gochman’s Monuments to Motherhood is a series of sculptures honoring the enduring support provided by caregivers across generations. Ranging from 4 to 15 feet tall, these structures invite immersive experiences and tactile exploration, encouraging reflection on themes such as labor, domesticity, and community. Cast in bronze, a material traditionally associated with grandeur and permanence, Molly creates enduring forms that symbolize and elevate narratives of caregiving. These sculptures are intended to serve as sites of collective historical memory and are designed to facilitate engagement, acting as gathering points for discussions on the impact of caregiving.

About Prospect Park Alliance

Prospect Park Alliance is the non-profit organization that sustains, restores and advances Prospect Park, Brooklyn’s Backyard, in partnership with the City of New York. The Alliance provides critical staff and resources that keep the park green and vibrant for the diverse communities that call Brooklyn home. The Alliance cares for the woodlands and natural areas; restores the park’s buildings and landscapes; creates new park destinations; and provides free or low-cost volunteer, education and recreation programs. Through the work of the Alliance, Prospect Park is an international model for the care of urban parks, and one of the premier green spaces in the United States. Learn more at www.prospectpark.org.

About NYC Parks’ Art in the Parks Program

For nearly 60 years, NYC Parks’ Art in the Parks program has brought contemporary public artworks to the city’s parks, making New York City one of the world’s largest open-air galleries. The agency has consistently fostered the creation and installation of temporary public art in parks throughout the five boroughs. Since 1967, NYC Parks has collaborated with arts organizations and artists to produce more than 3,000 public artworks by 1,500 notable and emerging artists in more than 200 parks. For more information, please visit nyc.gov/parks/art.