Monument Lab: Creative Speculations for Philadelphia Preview Panel and Reception
5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.
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Terry Adkins, Blanche Bruce, and the Lone Wolf Recital Corps perform The Last Trumpet as part of the Performa Biennial 2013. Photo courtesy of the Estate of Terry Adkins and Salon 94, New York.
Before the official opening of Monument Lab: Creative Speculations for Philadelphia on May 15, speak with curators Ken Lum, Paul Farber, and A. Will Brown, and enjoy a reception to follow.
Funded by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, Monument Lab: Creative Speculations for Philadelphia poses the question: What is an appropriate monument for the current city of Philadelphia? The centerpiece of this exploration, overseen by curators A. Will Brown, Paul Farber, and Ken Lum, will be a temporary monument designed by the late, award-winning artist and University of Pennsylvania professor Terry Adkins, to be installed in City Hall's central courtyard opening on May 15, 2015. Adkins' monument addresses the traumatic wave of Philadelphia school closings that occurred in 2013. A storefront "lab" space, also located at City Hall, also opens on May 15, 2015 and will serve as project headquarters, where participating artists, curators and Philadelphia citizens will brainstorm and instigate ideas for the appropriate monument for contemporary Philadelphia. This project will precede a planned Philadelphia monuments festival, to take place in 2017.