Monument Lab Live Events

As part of its ongoing citywide public art project Monument Lab: A Citywide Public Art and History Exhibition, Mural Arts Philadelphia holds a number of live events featuring conversations with participating artists, project curators, and cultural thinkers.

Monument Lab features over 20 temporary public artworks, created by contemporary artists including Tania Bruguera, Zoe Strauss, Hank Willis Thomas, Kara Crombie, and Kaitlin Pomerantz, among others. The works, displayed in public spaces around the city of Philadelphia, respond to the guiding question: “What is an appropriate monument for the current city of Philadelphia?”

See a full schedule of Monument Lab live events below.

Monument Lab Live #1: How to Make a Monument
September 13 at 6 p.m.
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
A conversation with participating Monument Lab artists Mel Chin, Tania Bruguera, and Emeka Ogboh, Mural Arts executive director Jane Golden, and Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney.

Monumental Exchange #1
September 20 at 6 p.m.
University of the Arts
Curator Paul M. Farber moderates a conversation with Monument Lab artists Sharon Hayes and Karyn Olivier on the role of the artist in relation to monument-making.

Monument to the Philadelphia Poet
September 27 at 6 p.m.
Logan Circle
A public performance by Philadelphia poets, including Pew Fellow Yolanda Wisher, Lillian Dunn, and Nicole Steinberg.

Promument
October 6 at 7 p.m.
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Celebrate Monument Lab with a night of dancing and conversation, featuring local DJs, food, and entertainment.

Monumental Exchange #2
October 11 at 6 p.m.
University of the Arts
Monument Lab artists Mel Chin and Tyree Guyton discuss the relationship between their artworks and public space.

Monument Lab Live #2: Hidden Histories and Missing Monuments
October 18 at 6 p.m.
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
A series of presentations on questions of authorship, representation, and history by digital archivist Jarrett Drake, Pew Fellow and Cuban musician Venissa Santí, art press Paper Monument, and more.

Monumental Exchange #3
October 25 at 6 p.m.
University of the Arts
Monument Lab artists Kara Crombie, Alexander Rosenberg, and Ricardo Rivera discuss how their artworks relate to local histories and Philadelphia residents.

Monument Lab Live #3: Civic Action and Activism
Wednesday, November 1 at 6 p.m.
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
A series of TED-style presentations from filmmaker and activist Bree Newsome, Celebrate Mercy’s Tarek El-Messidi, Reentry Think Tank, and Monument Lab artists Michelle Angela Ortiz and Shira Walinsky.

Monumental Exchange #4
Wednesday, November 8 at 6 p.m.
WHYY, 150 North 6th Street
Artist Jamel Shabazz discusses his Monument Lab project, Love is the Message, a photographic tribute to African American veterans and their families.

Monument Lab Keynote Conversation: The Futures of Memory
Wednesday, November 15 at 6 p.m.
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
A keynote conversation featuring author and professor Michael Eric Dyson, New York Times architecture critic Michael Kimmelman, and scholar and activist Salamishah Tillet on the overarching themes of Monument Lab and the future of memory in public space.