In 2024, the inaugural cohort of Monument Lab’s Artist Residency Program included Miguel Horn and Symone Salib. Horn and Salib engaged Spiral Q and Al-Bustan: Seeds of Culture, respectively, through a series of community workshops, participated in mentorship and professional development opportunities, and presented their prototype monuments in Held: A Monument Lab Residency Exhibition at Paradigm Gallery.
The Monument Lab Artist Residency Program was established in 2024 to support and prepare Philadelphia’s emerging public artists for future large-scale monument commission opportunities while building stronger relationships within and across the city’s neighborhoods. Through the theme of “exchange,” the program provides early- to mid-career public artists with resources, support, and networks of collaboration. Artist residents are supported in: experimenting with monumental materials and methods; reinforcing and building relationships within and across Philadelphia neighborhoods; gaining exhibition experience and mentorship; and joining Monument Lab’s growing community of local, national, and transnational monument changemakers. Through this residency, Monument Lab seeks to contribute to the ecosystem of emerging monument changemakers, who can grow their practice through place-based relationships.
About the Artists
Symone Salib is a first generation Cuban/Egyptian street artist, muralist, and trauma informed educator based out of Philadelphia. Through paint and illustration she works to highlight the lives of people across Philadelphia since 2017. She focuses on vibrantly sharing the stories of people in hopes we can connect and resonate with humans who are different from ourselves. She strives to spread joy and create a space where people are not only seen but heard and valued. Follow Symone Salib on Instagram @symonesalibstudio to learn more.
Miguel Antonio Horn is a visual artist from Philadelphia with Colombian and Venezuelan roots. He received a certificate in 2006 from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and apprenticed for five years with Mexican artist Javier Marin. He creates large-format sculptures using digital and analog processes in a variety of media. His artworks have been exhibited at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Tamaulipas, Brownsville Museum of Fine Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, University of the Arts, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and as part of the Vancouver Biennale. He has several permanent public installations in the Philadelphia region, Canada and Mexico. He has received grants for workshops and artworks locally and internationally. From 2011 to 2019 he contributed to exhibitions programming and public outreach for the west Philadelphia artist-run Traction Company. He founded El Cubo in the Parkside neighborhood of Philadelphia in 2019 as a space for experimental projects and programming. He is the father of two young children who he raises with his wife and community in South Philadelphia. Follow Miguel Antonio Horn on Instagram @miguelantoniohorn to learn more.
About the Community Partners
Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture was the programmatic partner for We Are the Vessel and Muchas Nafas, the neighborhood workshops during Symone Salib’s residency. During these workshops, participants from Al-Bustan and beyond came together to talk about the ways that our friends, families, and community members uplift us during moments of transformation. In We Are The Vessel, participants used air dry clay to create their own vessel that they took home after the program. For Muchas Nafas, Salib crafted an evening of cultural preservation honoring her Cuban and Egyptian heritage through storytelling and food.
Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture is a Philadelphia based organization offering artistic and educational programming that enriches understanding and celebrates diversity, while supporting the pursuit and affirmation of Arab American cultural identity and playing a constructive civic role within broader American society. They offer performances, presentations and exhibitions, community partnerships and arts and language courses for children.
Spiral Q was the programmatic partner for Water Ice Wednesdays, the neighborhood workshops during Miguel Horn’s artist residency. During these weekly programs, Spiral Q teaching artist and lead collaborator, Jamie Merwin led dance and movement activities with area youth from Discovery Charter School and the East Parkside community. These sessions informed the creation of the artworks in this show.
Spiral Q is a Philadelphia-based nonprofit that promotes social and political change through giant puppetry, pageantry and large-scale art in direct action. Founded in 1996, they have become recognized locally and nationally for their originality, capacity to inspire individuals of all ages and backgrounds, and their ability to creatively invigorate communities. Spiral Q's mission is to build strong and equitable communities characterized by creativity, joy, can-do attitudes, and the courage to act on their convictions.
Jamie Merwin is the Founding Artistic Director of olive Dance Theater. Since 2002, oDT has pursued the mission to validate indigenous American Hip-hop dance forms, specifically Breakin’, through the creation and performance of new dance theatre works in the theatre domestically and abroad. As a first generation artist, she holds a BA in Theater and Dance with minors in Criminal Justice and African-American Studies from Temple University, as well as a Teaching Artist Certificate from The University of the Arts. She has received a PCA Fellowship in the Arts for Theater and a Ford Foundation FAAR Fellowship. She has lead olive Dance Theatre to receive numerous grants and awards including the National Dance Project and The National Endowment for the Arts American Masterpieces in Dance. She was the lead teaching artist at The Barnes Foundation from 2011—2021. She is currently an artist in residence with Olney Culture Lab + longtime collaborator with Spiral Q. Her contributions to the Neighborhood workshops were integral to the meaningful and engaging exchanges with the community.