What is an appropriate monument for the contemporary city? That line of questioning was proposed by the curators, artists, scholars, and students who comprise the Philadelphia-based public art and history studio in Monument Lab. In 2017, along with Mural Arts Philadelphia, they produced and organized a groundbreaking, city-wide exhibition of temporary, site-specific prototype monuments and adjacent participatory research labs in iconic public squares and neighborhood parks. Now, Monument Lab is presenting a new book edited by founders Paul Farber and Ken Lum as a way to carry learnings from this exhibition forward and outward.

Across the country, Monument Lab works with artists, students, activists, municipal agencies, and cultural institutions on exploratory approaches to public engagement and collective memory. They cultivate and facilitate critical conversations around the past, present, and future of monuments. As a studio and curatorial team, Monument Lab pilots collaborative approaches to unearthing and reinterpreting histories. This includes citywide art exhibitions, site-specific commissions, participatory research initiatives, a national fellows program, a web bulletin and podcast, and more.

Artistic Director and Co-Founder Paul Farber discusses Monument Lab's founding goals, their approaches to public art and public history, and the studio's evolving body of work.