Join Monument Lab and the Village of Arts and Humanities for a special preview of Staying Power – including a first-look sneak peek at prototype monuments by Staying Power Artists; sharings from Staying Power artists Deborah Willis and Sadie Barnette; a video featuring Staying Power neighborhood curatorial fellows Aisha Chamblis, Saleem Cooper, Fred Harris, Ms. Nandi Jackson, and Natasha Mosley; and a conversation with co-curators Arielle Julia Brown and Paul Farber and members of The Village’s staff including Aviva Kapust, Michaela Pomelis, and Lillian Dunn. This preview will be hosted by Monument Lab’s Associate Director of Public Engagement, Patricia Eunji Tricia Kim, and will offer glimpses into exhibition opening to the public Saturday, May 1st!

Staying Power is an outdoor art exhibition and program series in the Fairhill-Hartranft neighborhood of Philadelphia. Staying Power asks artists, residents of the neighborhood, and visitors: What is your staying power in this neighborhood? What is your staying power in a city and world that are rapidly changing? Staying Power seeks to understand, amplify, and invest in the staying power of Fairhill-Hartranft’s neighborhood residents.

Hosted by The Village of Arts and Humanities and curated with Monument Lab, Staying Power will feature prototype monuments by artists Sadie Barnette (Oakland), Black Quantum Futurism (Philadelphia), Courtney Bowles and Mark Strandquist (Philadelphia), Ebony G. Patterson (Chicago/Kingston), and Deborah Willis (New York City) that each respond to the curatorial prompts of the project. The resulting exhibition includes monumental outdoor sculpture, photographic installations, storefront activations, and research and performance engagements, presented alongside The Village’s existing public collection of legacy artworks on the Germantown Avenue corridor of North Central Philadelphia.

Major support for Staying Power has been provided to The Village of Arts and Humanities by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.