Project My Label is a participatory art installation taking place at the Allentown Art Museum on Saturday, June 28, from noon until 3 p.m. Visitors are invited to interact with a life-size fabric doll created by artist Marco Caridad—a symbolic representation of the queer artist’s body. Through writing, drawing, and pinning personal reflections directly onto the doll’s surface, participants are asked to explore themes of identity, belonging, and societal expectation. Some participants engage for 15 minutes, others stay for an hour or more.
The project is free and recommended for ages 12 and up, making it ideal for teens, adults, and anyone open to engaging in creative, open-ended expression. It is designed to be bilingual and inclusive—all facilitation and signage will be available in both English and Spanish, ensuring accessibility for a diverse audience.
Participants will explore how societal labels can shape how we see ourselves and others. The project opens a space to question stereotypes, reflect on how we are perceived, and celebrate the complexity of who we are. It offers a safe, creative, and open-ended environment for sharing stories, asking questions, and making visible the voices that are often ignored.
As visitors leave their mark, the doll transforms into a layered, poetic, and often ironic archive of lived experience. Each contribution adds to a growing tapestry of community dialogue. Each installation site—Allentown, Miami, and Puerto Rico—invites a unique local response. These three regional installations will form a trilogy of perspectives, capturing how different communities engage with identity and visibility. The resulting works will be documented for future reflection and research, providing insight into the shared and divergent experiences of queer individuals across geography and culture.
This Museum program is offered in partnership with Marco Caridad and El Patio De Mi Casa.
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Marco Caridad is a Venezuelan American artist based in Miami and Vieques, Puerto Rico. His work explores identity, queerness, censorship, and belonging through painting, video, assemblage, and printmaking. With a background in theater and design, he creates poetic, ironic works that often involve community participation. He holds degrees in graphic design, visual arts, and fine arts from schools in Venezuela and Miami.
Caridad has shown his work both in the United States and abroad at venues like the Wolfsonian–FIU Museum, DORCAM, and art fairs like SCOPE. He founded the Biolumina Project Residency in Vieques to support artistic exchange and community engagement. His honors include fellowships and residencies from ICA Miami, the MUD Foundation, and the Miami Paper & Printing Museum.
Currently, he is the artistic director at Miami International Fine Arts (MIFA) and serves on the board of FAMA (Fiber Artists Miami Association).
Caridad’s art often serves as a “living archive” of marginalized voices, using materials like censored books and worn clothing. His ongoing project, Project My Label, is a traveling installation and performance celebrating queer resilience and challenging stereotypes.