This fall, Philadelphia is going to look even brighter! The Mural Arts program has just announced its Monument Lab, a citywide public art and history project that will create temporary public art installations in 10 locations across the city. It will last for nine weeks and is co-produced by Mural Arts Philadelphia and curators Paul Farber, Ken Lum and A. Will Brown. The exhibition will take place Sept. 16 through Nov. 19, 2017, and will be featured in the five original William Penn Center City squares as well as five neighborhood parks throughout the City of Philadelphia. There are 22 artists – including a host of local artists – contributing to this project. The theme of the project is to answer the question, “what makes a monument in the 21st century?” Highlights include: Tania Bruguera creating a monument to the “new immigrant; Mel Chin making a monument for “me and you;” Tyree Guyton tackling opioid addiction and recovery; Sharon Hayes addressing the lack women in public art; Jamel Shabazz recognizing African American veterans; Zoe Strauss asking questions about ownership of public space.
Check out more information on the artists.
In addition to the installations, the public art will be accompanied by interactive pop-up “laboratories” for creative conversations and research collected by youth art guides. During open hours, staff will be present at all labs to distribute information, answer questions, prompt participation, and collect submissions from members of the public. Also, Mural Arts Philadelphia will create a central hub at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where all the proposals for Philadelphia monuments of the future, generated around the city during the nine-week project, will be scanned and exhibited, culminating in a new museum of ideas and creative data, built by and for the people. And finally, from panels to parties and tours to talks, there will be public programs public programs creating ways for the programs community to participate in Monument Lab—plus, each site will host its own weekend event, featuring programming created with the artists and neighborhood partners.
For more information about Mural Arts Philadelphia’s Monument Lab project, visit muralarts.org/monumentlab.
