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Non-profit

Monument Lab

Website:

www.monumentlab.com/
Location:

Philadelphia, PA
Tax ID:

86-3119416
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Type:

Non-Profit
Formation:

2012
Director:

Paul Farber
Budget (2021):

Revenue: $338,257
Expenses: $10,323
Net Assets: $327,934 1

References

  1. Monument Lab, Return of a Nonprofit Corporation (Form 990), 2021.

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Monument Lab is a nonprofit focusing on past, present, and future public monuments and contends that monuments must be changed. Monument Lab produced an audit of United States monuments alleging that they overwhelmingly depict white men, memorialize war and conquest, and misrepresent the history of the country. Monument Lab curated a fall 2023 public monument exhibit on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. that focused on LGBT activism, environmentalism, and immigration. Monument Lab produced an early-2023 podcast on land use in the U.S., calling it exploitative and calling for a radical policy change in land ownership.

History

Monument Lab was founded in 2012 by Paul Farber and Ken Lum through a series of classroom conversations. 1 Monument Lab affirms that public monuments must be changed and seeks to cultivate and facilitate conversations around past, present, and future monuments. 2

In 2015, Monument Lab installed a pair of outdoor classrooms in the courtyard of Philadelphia’s City Hall including a classroom sculpture and a learning lab operated by students to collect public monument proposals. 3 In 2017, Monument Lab partnered with Mural Arts Philadelphia and installed temporary monuments by 20 artists across 10 sites in Philadelphia. 4

By 2018, Monument Lab had evolved into a studio for artists, researchers, educators, and students. 5 Through a $4 million grant in 2020, Monument Lab opened ten field offices and a full-time staff. 6

Projects

From 2020 to 2021, Monument Lab conducted a National Monument Audit (Audit) focusing on a study of 50,000 conventional monuments in every U.S. state and territory. 7 The Audit is part of a $250 million investment by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Monument Project to “transform the way our country’s histories are told in public spaces and ensure that future generations inherit a commemorative landscape that venerates and reflects the vast, rich complexity of the American story.” 8

Monument Lab’s audit claimed that American public monuments overwhelmingly depict white men, reflect war and conquest, and tell a story of the U.S. that misrepresents history. 9 Monument Lab director Paul Farber called Confederate statues sitting outside courthouses or government buildings “toxic” and said they have no business being there. 10

Beyond Granite

“Beyond Granite: Pulling Together” is a project of Monument Lab in Washington, D.C. in the fall of 2023. 11 The project features six artists who constructed temporary exhibits on the National Mall with a goal of acknowledging indigenous legacies, history of slavery, civil rights, LGBT activism, pathways for immigration, environmentalism, and “other narratives on the American struggle.” 12

One exhibit, HOMEGOING, is an exploration into Black queer church musicians who died from AIDS-related complications. 13 “Beyond Granite” was the first curated outdoor exhibit in the history of the Mall. 14

Plot of Land

Plot of Land was an early 2023 podcast by Monument Lab that was mainly funded by the Ford Foundation. 15 Plot of Land explores how land ownership and housing in the United States is affected by power, privatization, racial capitalism, exploitation, and extraction. 16 Monument Labs stated there needs to be radical change in in policy and practices in land ownership. 17

 

New Arts Justice

Monument Lab and director Paul Farber have collaborated on art with New Arts Justice, a left-wing arts incubator at Rutgers University-Newark that is committed to Black feminist approaches. 18 New Arts Project director and founder Salamishah Tillet co-curated “Beyond Granite,” “A Call To Peace,” and other exhibits with Monument Lab and Paul Farber. 19

New Arts Justice worked with the City of Newark, New Jersey to paint “All Black Lives Matter” as a street mural in conjunction with the city removing a Christopher Columbus statue calling it a statement against barbarism, enslavement, and oppression that Columbus represents. 20

Museum Field Trip

Monument Lab Field Trip: Museums is a set of self-guided activities exploring museums and history and encourages reflection on questions of labor, learning, access in arts, culture, history, and science institutions. 21 Monument Lab seeks to make museums “more accessible and less exclusive spaces” and critically explore museums in a way that “feels safe and accessible.” 22

Financials

In 2021, Monument Lab had net assets of $327,934. 23 According to the organization’s tax returns, in 2021 Monument Lab recorded $338,257 in revenue and $10,323 in expenses. 24

Since 2020, Monument Lab has been awarded $12 million in grants by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. 25 Additionally, Monument Lab has taken grants from the Open Society Foundations, the Ford Foundation, Hearthland Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Independence Media Foundation, Surdna Foundation, Sachs Program for Arts Innovation at the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design. 26

Monument Lab’s previous projects received grants from the Pew Center for Art and Heritage, Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, Tuttleman Family Foundation, and the William Penn Foundation. 27

Leadership

Paul Farber is the director and co-founder of Monument Lab. 28 Farber is also a Senior Research Scholar at the Center for Public Art and Space at the University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design. 29 Farber’s research and projects focus on urban history, cultural memory, and civic engagement. 30 Farber is the author and editor of several books and served as curator of numerous exhibits. 31

References

  1. “History.” Monument Lab. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://monumentlab.com/about; “Organization Bio.” Monument Lab. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://monumentlab.com/about.
  2. “About.” Monument Lab. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://monumentlab.com/about; “Monument Lab.” Monument Lab. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://monumentlab.com.
  3. “History.” Monument Lab. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://monumentlab.com/about.
  4.  “History.” Monument Lab. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://monumentlab.com/about.
  5. “History.” Monument Lab. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://monumentlab.com/about.
  6. “History.” Monument Lab. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://monumentlab.com/about.
  7. “National Monument Audit.” Monument Lab. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://monumentlab.com/audit.
  8. “National Monument Audit.” Monument Lab. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://monumentlab.com/audit.
  9. “National Monument Audit.” Monument Lab. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://monumentlab.com/audit.
  10. “Q & A: Why Monuments Must Change.” Open Society Foundations. July 6, 2023. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/q-and-a-why-monuments-must-change.
  11. “Current Projects.” Monument Lab. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://monumentlab.com/projects.
  12. [1] “Beyond Granite: Pulling Together.” Monument Lab. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://monumentlab.com/projects/national-mall-project.
  13. Farrow, Kenyon. “The National Mall Hosts a Homegoing for Black Queer Church Musicians Who Died From AIDS-Related Complications.” The Body. August 16, 2023. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://www.thebody.com/article/home-going-black-queer-church-died-aids-complications.
  14. Voon, Claire. “Monuments To Overlooked Histories Are Coming To Washington, DC’s National Mall.” The Art Newspaper. July 21, 2023. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/07/21/monuments-national-mall-washington-dc-beyond-granite-pulling-together-monument-lab.
  15. “Plot of Land.” Monument Lab. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://monumentlab.com/projects/plot-of-land
  16. “Plot of Land.” Monument Lab. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://monumentlab.com/projects/plot-of-land.
  17. “Plot of Land.” Monument Lab. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://plotofland.monumentlab.com.
  18. “A Call To Peace.” Monument Lab. October 2019-November 2019. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://monumentlab.com/projects/a-call-to-peace; “A Call To Peace.” Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences – Newark. September 20, 2019. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://sasn.rutgers.edu/news-events/news/call-peace;  “About.” New Arts Justice. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://www.newartsjustice.org/about; “Monument Lab.” LinkedIn. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/company/monument-lab/.
  19. “A Call To Peace.” Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences – Newark. September 20, 2019. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://sasn.rutgers.edu/news-events/news/call-peace; “Beyond Granite: Pulling Together.” Monument Lab. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://monumentlab.com/projects/national-mall-project.
  20. “#MuralsForJustice.” New Arts Justice. June 28, 2020. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://www.newartsjustice.org/featured-projects/muralsforjustice.
  21. [1] “Field Trip: Museums.” Monument Lab. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://monumentlab.com/projects/field-trip-museums.
  22. “Field Trip: Museums.” Monument Lab. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://monumentlab.com/projects/field-trip-museums.
  23. Monument Lab, Return of a Nonprofit Corporation (Form 990), 2021.
  24. Monument Lab, Return of a Nonprofit Corporation (Form 990), 2021.
  25. “Monument Lab.” Mellon Foundation. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://www.mellon.org/grant-database/monument%20lab.
  26. “Supporters and Partners.” Monument Lab. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://monumentlab.com/about; “Monument Lab.” Independence Media Foundation. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://independencemedia.org/grantees/monument-lab; “Monument Lab.” Ford Foundation. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/awarded-grants/grants-database/monument-lab-145296/; “CultureTrust Greater Philadelphia.” Open Society Foundations. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/grants/past?filter_keyword=monument+lab&grant_id=OR2020-76932.
  27. “Supporters and Partners.” Monument Lab. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://monumentlab.com/about; “Monument Lab.” William Penn Foundation. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://williampennfoundation.org/view-grants?program_area=&year=&grant_range=&key_words=monument&op=Submit&form_build_id=form-y15wQUd1D5hKzyvD1QaPnVwni7Ez-83ox9dcMxT5ge0&form_id=wpf_grants_form_ajax_block.
  28. “Paul M. Farber.” Monument Lab. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://monumentlab.com/people/paul-m-farber; “Organization Bio.” Monument Lab. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://monumentlab.com/about.
  29. “Paul M. Farber.” Monument Lab. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://monumentlab.com/people/paul-m-farber.
  30. “Paul M. Farber.” Monument Lab. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://monumentlab.com/people/paul-m-farber.
  31. “Paul M. Farber.” Monument Lab. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://monumentlab.com/people/paul-m-farber.
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: June - May
  • Tax Exemption Received: March 1, 2022

    • Available Filings

    No filings available.

    Monument Lab

    1617 JFK Blvd
    Philadelphia, PA