Jenny Holzer, Sanford Biggers, and Others Are Vying to Design a Pulse Nightclub Memorial Museum. But a New Group Is Opposing It

The owners of the Pulse
nightclub in Orlando, site of one of the deadliest mass shootings
in American history, announced plans to build a new memorial and
private museum honoring
the victims of the massacre last year. And several high-profile
artists and architects, including Jenny Holzer, Sanford Biggers,
Studio Drift, and Diller Scofidio + Renfro, have since
submitted proposals for the design.

But the decision doesn’t sit
well with everyone. A
new group called the Community Coalition Against a Pulse
Museum has formed
in opposition to the proposed museum and the organization behind
it. The group accuses
the onePulse Foundation, a non-profit formed by Pulse nightclub owner
Barbara Poma, of seeking to “monetize the tragedy in order to pay
salaries and raise exorbitant sums for a project not everyone
wants.”

The group wants the current
nightclub torn down and suggests that any memorial to the tragedy
be built on public property with Orlando city
funding. “Put people
first,” the coalition’s mission
statement reads. “We
care more about our survivors than educating tourists.”

“We respect the thoughts and
opinions of everyone in the community who was affected by this
tragic event and are taking them all into consideration on how we
move forward,” a representative from onePulse said in a
statement to the
Associated Press.

onePulse’s proposed plan would turn the Pulse nightclub
into a permanent memorial, while a museum would be built a few
blocks away. Both are currently scheduled to open in
2022. 

In July, the Orlando
Sentinel published a report detailing the finances behind the project,
revealing that onePulse planned to raise $40 million for design and
construction. The organization will need $2 million to pay the
yearly salaries of 90 employees at both the memorial and museum,
including $150,000 for Poma’s own annual salary. It anticipates
drawing more than 300,000 visitors a year, each of whom will be
charged an admission fee.

“onePULSE Foundation is
following the model of other museums and memorials such as those in
Oklahoma City and the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in
New York City,” a representative from the organization told artnet
News in a statement. “As with those sites, the memorial will be
free, while the museum will charge a modest admission, which will
go to keep up the museum and the memories of those it
honors.” 

“The museum will tell the story
of the victims, the tragedy, the community’s response, and provide
a world-class education center to learn from the lessons of hate so
they aren’t repeated,” the statement continues. “Without a museum,
there is no place to tell the story for future generations and we
risk the tragedy being erased entirely over time.”

Christine Leinonen, a mother of
one of the victims and a founding member of the coalition opposing
the museum, launched
a petition on
Change.org urging the
Orlando City Council to halt onePulse Foundation’s proposed museum,
which she characterizes as a “for profit destination” that would
“charge admission like an Amusement attraction.” 

“This ‘Memorial’ would be opened
to capitalize on the lives lost,” Leinonen’s petition reads. “A
place where you can buy T-shirts, hats, souvenirs, and memorabilia,
and walk through and experience the blood shed first hand. For
profit.” To date,
44,462 people have signed the petition. 

Below, see the six teams that onePulse has short-listed from its
international design
competition:

Coldefy & Associés with RDAI,
Xavier Veilhan, dUCKS scéno, Agence TER, and Laila Farah

Diller Scofidio + Renfro and
Rene Gonzalez Architects with Raymond Jungles, Inc.

heneghan peng architects,
Gustafson Porter + Bowman, and Sven Anderson & Pentagram

MASS Design Group, Ralph
Appelbaum Associates, Sasaki, Sanford Biggers, Richard Blanco, and
Porsha Olayiwola

MVRDV, Grant Associates, GSM
Project and Studio Drift

Studio Libeskind with Claude
Cormier + Associés, Thinc, and Jenny Holzer.

The post Jenny Holzer, Sanford Biggers, and Others Are Vying
to Design a Pulse Nightclub Memorial Museum. But a New Group Is
Opposing It appeared first on artnet News.