Research notes for project planning
What the project record tells us
St. Louis memorial
Building a memorial with its witnesses
The first installment of Pillars of the Valley was unveiled in 2023 after five years of development. Davis describes former Mill Creek Valley residents and elders as central to shaping a memorial to the neighborhood displaced by redevelopment. STL CITY supplied the site, with support from Great Rivers Greenway and Lamar Johnson Collaborative. The commissioning lesson is to schedule community knowledge as part of design development, with people able to influence the result. Who can review the proposal before its physical form is fixed?
Damon Davis Studio — Pillars of the Valley ↗ · Reviewed 2026-10-10
For your project briefWho can review the proposal before its physical form is fixed?
Big Art Partners planning prompt Ferguson street project and museum portfolio
A street intervention acquires another life
All Hands On Deck began with photographs made during the 2014 Ferguson protests and pasted by Davis and colleagues onto boarded storefronts. Wildwood Press subsequently produced a photolithograph portfolio in 2015, which the Saint Louis Art Museum acquired the following year. These are distinct presentations with different material and institutional lives. A public commission brief should identify whether documentation, editions and later exhibitions belong within its scope. How will those later versions preserve the circumstances and participants of the original intervention?
Saint Louis Art Museum — All Hands On Deck ↗ · Reviewed 2026-10-10
For your project briefHow will later versions preserve the original circumstances and participants?
Big Art Partners planning prompt Museum interpretation program
Interpretation needs a delivery plan
The Saint Louis Art Museum programmed a virtual conversation with Davis during its presentation of All Hands On Deck in 2021. Its event notice included audience questions, automated captions and a plan for a subsequently captioned recording. That historical example suggests treating interpretation as a produced component with its own format and access provisions. A photograph displayed in a gallery and a discussion about its origins serve different audience needs. Which conversations and accessible records should accompany a future public presentation?
Saint Louis Art Museum — artist talk ↗ · Reviewed 2026-10-10
For your project briefWhich conversations and accessible records should accompany a future public presentation?
Big Art Partners planning prompt 
