Helpful Terms & Ideas
Lorraine Underground Station 100 Monument, 2006, Beaubien Woods Forest Preserve, Lorain, Ohio. Photo by Geoffrey Jacobson.
The "Helpful Terms & Ideas" tab provides information for students looking for definitions, the general public unsure of visual language of sculpture and monuments, and educators and museum professionals seeking more expansive and precise vocabulary.
On the "Helpful Terms & Ideas" tab, you can access:
- definitions of monument, memorial, sites of slavery, commemorative works, and public art;
- a list of sculpture terms;
- a short essay on figurative versus abstract sculpture;
- a DavidsonArtOnline video that explains the difference between modeling, carving, casting, and assembling;
- a photographic diagram of the parts of a monument with definitions; and
- a short essay that unpacks the term "representation" and its relationship to three-dimensional sculpture.
- the language of slavery and enslavement, adopted from the National Park Service;
Updated August 2024.