Raúl de Nieves is a multimedia artist, performer, and musician, whose wide-ranging practice investigates notions of beauty and transformation. De Nieves’s visual symbolism draws on both classical Catholic and Mexican vernacular motifs to create his own unique mythology. Through processes of accumulation and adornment, the artist transforms readily available materials into spectacular objects, which he then integrates into immersive narrative environments.

He has presented solo exhibitions at the Cleveland Museum of Art, OH; the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA; Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, FL; and the Savannah College of Art and Design Museum of Art, GA; among other institutions. Additionally, he has participated in group exhibitions at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY; the High Line, New York, NY; the K11 Art Foundation, Hong Kong; Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY; New Orleans Museum of Art, LA; Whitney Museum of American Art, NY; and numerous other venues. De Nieves has staged performances at institutions including the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, PA and MoMA PS1, Queens, NY. He has been an artist in residence at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia and Fountainhead, Miami, as well as a fellow at the Joan Mitchell Foundation. His work is held in the permanent collections of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Place du Tivoli or Tivoli Circle, the grassy enclosure that circles the marble column, was named after Italian and European pleasure gardens, including Tivoli Gardens near Rome, Italy. It stands upon land belonging to the Choctaw, Houma, Chitimacha, Biloxi, and other Native peoples. Created in the early nineteenth century by architect Barthélémy Lafon, it was intended to serve as a centralized area for the surrounding neighborhood. 

In 1877, the circular intersection connecting the New Orleans Central Business District with the Lower Garden District was named “Lee Circle.” On February 22, 1884, a 7,000 pound, sixteen-and-a-half-foot statue of General Lee’s likeness was erected during an unveiling ceremony, about twenty years after the end of the Civil War. It served as a symbol of nostalgia for “the Lost Cause” ––an interpretation of the Civil War that romanticizes the “Old South,” perpetuating the enslavement of people of African descent and the promotion of white supremacy. Historians note that Lee, the symbol, and Lee, the person, were contradictory. Lee was an enslaver and frequently wrote that slavery was an evil institution. Research concludes that he was also anti-monument, believing that monuments glorifying the Confederacy would sow discord and tension. Despite his misgivings about monuments, the landmark to Lee stood for 140 years before it was permanently taken down on May 19, 2017. 

Local organizations like Take ‘Em Down NOLA fought hard for the eradication of Confederate monuments and symbols around New Orleans. Also, the onslaught of police violence toward innocent people of African descent galvanized protests, encouraging widespread change regarding the use of public art to monumentalize our country’s racist past and present. The 2015 mass shooting of nine people of African descent at the Charleston, South Carolina, Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church by twenty-one-year-old neo-Nazi Dylan Roof is emblematic of how our racist past affects present and future generations. Due to the work of organizations like Take ‘Em Down NOLA and former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, schools and streets were renamed. The Battle of Liberty Place monument and Confederate monuments to Jefferson Davis and Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard came down—but there is still more work to be done. 

In January 2022, Prospect.5: Yesterday we said tomorrow, unveiled Simone Leigh’s Sentinel (Mami Wata) (2020-21) on the former site of Lee’s monument—a tall bronze sculpture inspired by the figure of Mami Wata, an animistic deity celebrated throughout Africa and the African diaspora. Three months later, in April, the City Council of New Orleans renamed the grassy part inside the tower “Harmony Circle,” while the circle retained the name “Tivoli Circle.” Harmony and Tivoli Circles are important geographical meeting points in New Orleans, especially during the Uptown parades during Carnival season.

For Prospect.6 in 2024 artist Raul de Nieves created the sculptures The Sacred Heart of Hours and The Trees of Yesterdays, Today, and Tomorrow for Harmony Circle as a temporary installation. The New Orleans Downtown Development District (DDD) is currently developing plans and soliciting community feedback for the long term future of Harmony Circle. The DDD's vision for a redeveloped Harmony Circle is to create an active and attractive public space for all who live in and visit New Orleans.

For Prospect.6, my installation, The Sacred Heart of Hours and the Trees of Yesterdays, Today, and Tomorrow will reimagine the geographic centrality of a New Orleans landmark: Harmony Circle.

Inspired by and representative of Catholic iconography and Carnival culture, my piece symbolizes a new beginning for the space, one that considers the expanse of New Orleans’s rich and vibrant cultural legacies and histories. 

This work draws deeply from my first visit to New Orleans during Mardi Gras in 2008—a transformative experience that shaped my understanding of spaces for celebration and self expression. One of my earliest memories of such spaces came from witnessing the vibrant, unapologetic spirit of the city. In those moments, I began to grasp the profound power of claiming spaces where identity is celebrated with openness and joy. During that visit, I collected discarded beaded necklaces left behind from the festivities. I repurposed them into an experimental sculpture that collapsed during its creation. This piece and its collapse echoed the impermanence of celebration. That work became a metaphor for embracing failure and chaos as integral parts of the artistic process, and this philosophy has shaped much of my current practice.

Now, in this new artwork, The Sacred Heart of Hours and the Trees of Yesterdays, Today, and Tomorrow, that same spirit of vulnerability finds new expression. It embodies the unpredictable journey of creation through the interconnected emotions of sorrow, joy, and new beginnings.

The piece is an opportunity to explore themes of personal and collective struggle, transcendent love, and the braveness of hope. As I continue to work with new materials and metal fabricators while embracing the chaos of change, I hope this sculptural heart will symbolize survival and celebration. I hope that my work at Harmony Circle will offer a reflection on the city's past struggles and envision a hopeful future.

Prospect.6 thanks the following individuals for their feedback as community advisors: Laura Rosanne Adderley, Mia Bagneris, Lisa D'Amour, Cynthia Garza, Antonio Garza,  Queen Cherice Harrison, Carolina Herrera, Yuri Herrera, T.R. Johnson, José Torres-Tama