Spelman College president Mary Schmidt Campbell was recently named to a mayoral commission that will help determine the appropriateness of various public art, monuments and markers in New York City.

The city’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, announced the creation of the commission Friday, recognizing the “important conversation taking place right now about history and representation in public art, monuments and markers” in the wake of deadly clashes in Charlottesville, Va. this summer over monuments to Confederate leaders.

Locally, the debate has included the carvings of Confederate leaders on Stone Mountain.

Campbell has several ties to New York, including leading the Studio Museum in Harlem for 10 years and as former dean of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

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Wade Roberts (center), a Decatur parent with children in three of the city schools, addresses concerns  with the possibility of a K-2 school closing. (Daniel Varnado for the AJC)

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Rose Scott signals as Closer Look goes on air in the WABE studio. An Atlanta resident left WABE a $3 million donation, a boost after WABE lost $1.9 million in annual funding from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting. (Ben Gray / AJC file)

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