Monument Lab Workshop: Grounding Public Art in Cultural Justice (2 Sessions)

For accessibility accommodation information, view the registration page.

This is a two-session workshop, October 6 and October 13, 4 pm to 5:30 pm. Please register for both.

How can you shape more inclusive and expansive monuments in your community? Join Monument Lab for a workshop designed for planners, artists, advocates, municipal staff and volunteers interested in developing new approaches to public art and exploring the value of public history as a tool for community-based research and engagement.

This online, interactive workshop will:

• Provide inspirational examples of public art processes and projects grounded in principles of racial and spatial justice;
• Offer opportunities to imagine new processes and programs that can foster more inclusive public processes and public spaces in the region;
• Build participants’ capacity to ethically and creatively engage sites of memory through programs and partnerships that bridge the gap between the heritage and arts sectors.

SESSION 1 (OCTOBER 6): Monument Lab will share inspirational case studies from their body of work. Please come prepared to engage in small group discussions about tools and resources for engaging with and evolving monuments in your community.

SESSION 2 (OCTOBER 13): Monument Lab Fellows will share examples of innovative and inclusive public processes. Participants will then engage in small group work to propose a process for a public project.

Co-facilitators:

• Paul Farber, Artistic Director and Co-Founder, Monument Lab. Senior Research Scholar, The Center for Public Art and Space at the University of Pennsylvania
• Sue Mobley, Senior Research Scholar, Monument Lab. Visiting Fellow for Arts and Culture at the American Planning Association. Visiting Scholar at the Center for Public Art and Space at the University of Pennsylvania

Guest speakers:

• Joel Garcia. 2019 Monument Lab Fellow. Artist, Arts Administrator, and Cultural Organizer, The Decolonial Initiative Task Force
• Arielle Julia Brown. Performance Curator and Cultural Producer for Monument Lab. Director and Founder of Black Spatial Relics

This event is part of Public Art, Public Memory, a discussion series co-hosted by NEFA’s Public Art team and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council’s Arts and Culture Department. This series explores the role that planners, artists, and community leaders can play in cultivating more just and inclusive public spaces through public art and collective memory.