For many Vietnamese refugee families, the experiences of displacement, rebuilding, and creating new lives in the United States are rarely reflected in public monuments or mainstream historical narratives.

The memorial seeks to ensure that the first generation feels seen and honored, while giving younger and future generations a place to understand why Vietnamese communities came to Boston, what their families endured, and what they built together. It also contributes to a more inclusive public art landscape that reflects Boston’s diverse communities.

Community voice has been central to the project from the beginning. Since 2023, we have hosted workshops, conversations, creative activities, and intergenerational gatherings where community members have shared memories, stories, hopes, and reflections.

These experiences have directly informed the evolving design and helped ensure that the memorial is not simply about the community, but created with the community.

Our goal is for the memorial to have a permanent home within Boston’s Little Saigon Cultural District in Dorchester.

Town Field has been explored as a potential location, along with other possible sites in the neighborhood. A formal feasibility process will help determine the location that best meets community, accessibility, design, environmental, and long-term maintenance needs.

The design is still evolving through community input and the feasibility process. Current concepts envision an immersive public artwork approximately 25 feet in radius, surrounded by enough gathering space to welcome more than 100 people for commemorations, educational programs, and community events.

The final size, materials, and design will depend on the selected site, engineering requirements, accessibility, fabrication, and community feedback.

A project of this scale requires significant investment in design, engineering, fabrication, installation, site preparation, accessibility, and long-term care. Current early estimates anticipate approximately $2 million for the creation and installation of the memorial, with additional resources needed to establish a long-term maintenance fund.

Funding will come from a combination of public and private sources, including grants, government funding, foundations, individual donors, community fundraising, and philanthropic partnerships.

We are currently working with the City of Boston and community partners to move the memorial into its next phase: feasibility and planning.

This includes identifying and assessing potential sites, formalizing City partnership and responsibilities, securing funding for the feasibility study, refining the memorial design, developing a realistic project budget, and preparing for future fabrication and construction. We are also building toward a larger capital campaign to support the memorial’s completion.

We are working toward bringing the memorial to life as soon as responsibly possible, but a permanent public artwork requires several stages of planning, approvals, fundraising, engineering, fabrication, and installation.

The timeline will become clearer after the feasibility study and site selection process are completed. We want to ensure that the memorial is thoughtfully designed, financially sustainable, accessible, and built to last for generations.

Permanent public art involves coordination among multiple City departments and partners responsible for public art, parks, land, accessibility, construction, permitting, maintenance, and community engagement.

Leadership transitions and overlapping departmental responsibilities can also affect timing. We continue to work with City partners to clarify the process, establish a formal partnership, and move the project toward site approval and implementation.

There are many ways to be part of this effort. You can donate to the project, join our newsletter, follow and share our work on social media, attend community events, sign our petition, and encourage friends and family to get involved.

You can also contact Boston City leadership to express your support for a permanent Vietnamese diaspora memorial in Little Saigon. Every signature, message, donation, and conversation helps demonstrate that this memorial has strong community support and deserves a lasting place in Boston.