Declaration House is an exhibition and book project that centers Robert Hemings, an enslaved valet, in the interpretation of the Philadelphia site associated with Thomas Jefferson and the drafting of the Declaration of Independence. By moving Hemings to the center of this story, the project asks, “What origins and outcomes of the story of the nation's founding could be made more visible here?” With lead artist Sonya Clark, curators Anna Arabindan-Kesson and Paul Farber, and five artists/historians in residence, the project will yield a 2024 public art installation, a book, and public programs with local cultural organizations and arts leaders that reframes what is and what is not self-evident about this revolutionary site across its history. 

​​Lead Artist: Sonya Clark
Curatorial Team: Anna Arabindan-Kesson, Paul Farber, and Yolanda Wisher
Project Managers: Kerry Bickford and Amelia Carter
Hosted by Independence National Historical Park
Documentation: MING Media, AJ Mitchell, Daniel Jackson, and Evan Morsell.
Monument Lab Board of Directors: Lola Bakare (Secretary), Ellery Roberts Biddle, Amari Johnson, Monica O. Montgomery (Vice Chair), Stephan Nicoleau (Treasurer), Michelle Angela Ortiz, Samala, Kirk Savage, and Tiffany Tavarez (Chair)
Photo Credit: Daniel Jones, 2023 OR AJ Mitchell, 2024

Project partners include Independence National Historic Park, Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello and Getting Word African American Oral History Project, and PhillyCam.

Major support for Declaration House has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, with additional support from VIA Art Fund and the National Endowment for the Arts.