Good morning and welcome back to the first week of October. With September limping out across much of the United States, fall has properly begun, making it the perfect time to get out and do some architectural sightseeing.

Here’s what’s going on today:

A George Floyd memorial went up in Manhattan’s Union Square and was promptly vandalized

On Friday night, October 1, three massive memorials to Black lives lost last year—George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and civil rights icon John Lewis—were erected in Manhattan’s Union Square. The 6-foot-tall sculptures, busts of each painted a copper color atop black plinths designed by artist Chris Carnabuci, face East 14th Street on the plaza in front of the park’s statue of George Washington.

Although the pieces were unveiled to much fanfare on Friday, by Sunday morning, the bust of George Floyd had been vandalized. A man rode up to the installation on a skateboard and splashed it with grey paint, leaving the other two alone. The attack was caught by a surveillance camera and the NYPD is currently investigating.

H/t to the New York Times

Michelangelo’s David is 3D printed for Expo 2020 Dubai, but viewers won’t get the full package

Expo 2020 Dubai kicked off with a bang on October 1 (AN’s roundup of what to see is forthcoming), but the Italian Pavilion is making a splash for some of the wrong reasons. The pavilion has 3D printed a 17-foot-tall replica of Michelangelo’s marble masterpiece, but visitors will only get to engage with the top half of David as they travel through the pavilion, putting them at eye level with the facsimile. Of course, unlike the real David, viewers are missing one important feature: his genitals, which art critics and a source from the design team claim were covered up to avoid the appearance of immodesty in the Muslim nation.

H/t to Designboom

The National Trust for Historic Preservation launches grants to bolster historic sites endangered by the pandemic

This morning, the National Trust for Historic Preservation announced that it would be handing out $3.5 million in grants through its new Telling the Full History: Sustaining the Stewards of America’s Diverse Historic Places program. Funding for the program comes through a federal National Endowment for the Humanities grant, and the trust will disburse the money to historic places that have been his especially hard during the pandemic. It’s expected that 60 to 80 organizations will receive either a $25,000 or $50,000 to help further their conservation mission.

“So many cultural institutions often operate without the material resources they really need,” said Paul Edmondson, president and CEO of the National Trust, in a press release, “but they survive by the grit and sheer determination of a committed few. This program is a visionary effort by the federal government through the National Endowment for the Humanities to recognize these keepers of American identity and strengthen their capacity to tell the full American story. In many cases, these grants will serve as a lifeline to institutions operating in the margins, but who hold the keys to our American past.”

Stuart Cohen receives the 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award from the AIA Chicago

Architect Stuart Cohen, FAIA, a co-founder of the Chicago Seven, has been recognized by the AIA Chicago with the organization’s 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award. He will be formally honored at a ceremony on October 15 at Designight 2021. More than just a groundbreaking architect, Cohen taught architecture at the University of Illinois, Chicago (UIC) from 1973 to 2002 in addition to lecturing across the country. He remains a professor of architecture emeritus at UIC. Cohen has also written four books and co-curated the 1976 exhibition Chicago Architects, a tipping point in examining the city’s architectural past, present, and more inclusive future.

Sotheby’s newest gallery will open in Beverly Hills later this month

International gallery behemoth Sotheby’s is continuing its expansion tear, revealing its latest outpost at the end of last week: a new public exhibition space set to open in Beverly Hills on October 14. The 4,300-square-foot new outpost at 350 North Camden Drive will both display auction pieces and art for immediate availability, as well as host talks, events, and exhibitions all open to the public.

H/t to The Hollywood Reporter

Multi-national art show Desierto Mountain Time kicks off at the border

A multi-organization, multi-state, and multi-national exhibition is underway at the United States-Mexico border, as 13 art organizations have launched Desierto Mountain Time. On view now through May of 2022, the massive show spans installations at museums, site-specific artworks and performances, sculptures breaching the border wall between El Paso and Ciudad Juárez, and much, much more. Hyperallergic recounts a full breakdown and has an interview with the show’s organizers on the Herculean undertaking involved with assembling Desierto Mountain Time.

H/t to Hyperallergic