Monument Lab Director Paul M. Farber to Join Mellon Foundation’s Board of Trustees

In addition to his position at Monument Lab, Farber also serves as Senior Research Scholar at the Center for Public Art & Space at the University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design. His extensive research and curatorial projects explore urban history, cultural memory, and creative approaches to civic engagement. Farber will join the Mellon Board of Trustees on March 8, 2024.

“Paul’s superior track record as a scholar, organizational leader, and cultural advocate makes him a valuable addition to the Mellon Board,” said Mellon Foundation Board Chair Kathryn A. Hall. “His strong management skills and sound judgment will further enhance the Foundation’s strategic direction and institutional purpose. We are pleased to welcome him as he begins this new position.”

As Director and Co-Founder of Monument Lab—a public art and history studio based in Philadelphia, and a Mellon Foundation grantee—Farber works with artists, students, activists, municipal agencies, and cultural institutions on exploratory approaches to public engagement and collective memory. Monument Lab works to cultivate and facilitate critical conversations around the past, present, and future of monuments, and in partnership with the Mellon Foundation issued in 2021 the National Monument Audit—a first of its kind effort to assess the current monument landscape across the United States.

“Paul’s thought partnership and the work he has led at Monument Lab have been critical to the success of The Monuments Project thus far,” said Mellon Foundation President Elizabeth Alexander. “We are excited to benefit further from his deep historical knowledge and forward-looking perspective as we welcome him to our Board of Trustees.”

Farber noted, “I am honored and thrilled to join the Mellon Foundation’s Board of Trustees. At this pivotal moment in our history—in which we look to artists to help protect, nourish, and uplift our democracy—the work of Elizabeth Alexander and the team at Mellon is vital. I look forward to joining this esteemed group.”

Farber is among the nation's thought leaders on monuments, memory, and public space. He is author and co-editor of several books, including A Wall of Our Own: An American History of the Berlin Wall (University of North Carolina Press) and Monument Lab: Creative Speculations on Philadelphia (Temple University Press). His curatorial and collaborative work includes Beyond Granite: Pulling Together with Salamishah Tillet, the first curated multi-artist public art exhibition on the National Mall in Washington D.C. (2023), and the upcoming Declaration House in Philadelphia’s Independence National Historical Park (2024) with Anna Arabindan-Kesson and Yolanda Wisher. Farber also is the host and creator of The Statue, a podcast series from WHYY/NPR. 

Farber earned a PhD and MA in American Culture from the University of Michigan and a BA in Urban Studies from the University of Pennsylvania.

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The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty and empowerment that can be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and guided by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive. Learn more at mellon.org.