Monument Labs

Monument Lab is a public art and history initiatve based in Philadelphia. We are a team of curators, artists, scholars, and students who ask open research questions and build prototype monuments in public spaces. Through our practice, we cultivate contemporary artworks, generate publicly sourced civic data, and co-author interpretive experiences. Our goals: to unearth the next generation of monuments and change the ways we write the history of cities together.

Philadelphia, like many of our other partner cities, is a city full of monuments and memorials. It is also a city full of monumental histories, many of which are little known, obscured, or simply unacknowledged. These underrepresented histories often exist in tension with officially acknowledged narratives. The projects that make up Monument Lab address issues of social justice and solidarity, including matters of race, gender, sexuality, class, and national belonging. Monument Lab projects include those made of stone and bronze, as well as recycled materials, images, sounds, and the byproducts of community process.

Trades For A Difference collaborated with The Mural Arts Program to construct several Monument  Lab projects throughout  Philadelphia. This was a great experience for the TFAD team to experience construction in a different creative capacity.  It was a great experience for our team to be involved is such creative projects. Click here to learn more about Mural Arts Monument Lab