The Philadelphia Museum of Art is embracing a statue it once kept at arm’s length.

Alexander is the president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which announced Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, it is spending $250 million on a five-year effort called the "Monuments Project" to reimagine monuments in public spaces. The effort to remove offensive monuments has gained new strength this year amid widespread protests focusing on racial injustice. But while the project is timely, Elizabeth Alexander, who heads the Mellon Foundation, said it's actually the culmination of years of work. She said the primary focus of the project isn't the relocating of monuments but instead on helping ensure greater representation of historically forgotten or underrepresented communities. They also plan to use about $1 million to open up Monument Lab field research offices in ten locations across the country.