"Declare Your Liberty" / "Name A Monument" community poem
Monument Lab Summit - July 2024
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In July 2024, visitors at the Independence Visitor Center were prompted to declare their liberty and describe what freedom means to them in a community poem set up during the Monument Lab Summit. In addition, they were encouraged to name a monument and write about why it is important to steward monuments from the past in the present and imagine what monuments can look like to represent the present in the future.
Throughout the week, the typewriters were rattling drum taps as hundreds of visitors from far and wide added their ideas to the long scroll of paper. The installation provided a chance for participants to see themselves reflected in another's words, cultivating a sense of unity around dreams for the future. For some, it was the first time using a typewriter or thinking about these ideas through the perspective of poetry. For many, it was a chance to add their own voice to a conversation with their community, near the birthplace of our nation.
After 3 days of collecting entries to the community poem, it was exhibited during the Closing Party at Cherry Street Pier. Attendees to the summit were invited to read back all the entries and make note of the motifs throughout the community poem.
The 2024 Monument Lab Summit in Philadelphia brought together thought leaders influencing and innovating the monument landscape through groundbreaking forms of commemoration, acknowledgment, justice, and belonging around the theme of “Past is Presence.” Monument Lab gathers the monument changemaking community to elevate the power of coalitional public memory and art. At the Summit, we will convene artists, curators, grassroots organizers, federal officials, municipal and civic workers, educators, students, and more from around the country for keynotes, panels, workshops, and field trips. Major support for the Monument Lab Summit is provided by the Mellon Foundation.
Installation by Marshall James Kavanaugh
Programming curated by Yolanda Wisher and Kerry Bickford
Throughout the week, the typewriters were rattling drum taps as hundreds of visitors from far and wide added their ideas to the long scroll of paper. The installation provided a chance for participants to see themselves reflected in another's words, cultivating a sense of unity around dreams for the future. For some, it was the first time using a typewriter or thinking about these ideas through the perspective of poetry. For many, it was a chance to add their own voice to a conversation with their community, near the birthplace of our nation.
After 3 days of collecting entries to the community poem, it was exhibited during the Closing Party at Cherry Street Pier. Attendees to the summit were invited to read back all the entries and make note of the motifs throughout the community poem.
The 2024 Monument Lab Summit in Philadelphia brought together thought leaders influencing and innovating the monument landscape through groundbreaking forms of commemoration, acknowledgment, justice, and belonging around the theme of “Past is Presence.” Monument Lab gathers the monument changemaking community to elevate the power of coalitional public memory and art. At the Summit, we will convene artists, curators, grassroots organizers, federal officials, municipal and civic workers, educators, students, and more from around the country for keynotes, panels, workshops, and field trips. Major support for the Monument Lab Summit is provided by the Mellon Foundation.
Installation by Marshall James Kavanaugh
Programming curated by Yolanda Wisher and Kerry Bickford
This project was an Artist Partnership
in collaboration with
Monument Lab
with additional support from
Independence Visitors Center and Cherry Street Pier
July 17 - July 19, 2024 |
Philadelphia, PA |
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All imagery and content © 2026 Marshall James Kavanaugh. All Rights Reserved.
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