RestART with BSR - A Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance Collaboration
The Broad Street Review podcast is teaming up with the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance’s RestART Initiative, bringing you conversations about how Philly arts organizations are surviving the Covid-19 crisis, and the changes they’re taking into the future. I’m your host, Darnelle Radford.
Broad Street Review is Philly’s home for arts, culture, and conversation. We’re a nonprofit online arts and culture journal serving the greater Philadelphia area since 2005.
Hosted By: Darnelle Radford
RestART with BSR - Episode 6
RestART with BSR - Episode 5
RestART with BSR - Episode 4
RestART with BSR - Episode 3
RestART with BSR - Episode 2
RestART with BSR - Episode 1
ABOUT RestART Initiative: The COVID-19 pandemic crisis has devastated the arts & culture community. From March 2020 through March 2021, the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance (Cultural Alliance) estimates a total revenue loss of $371.7 million for the arts and culture community in the Philadelphia region. Although the sector has been resilient in pivoting to virtual programming, there is uncertainty around the recovery of the community.
The RestART initiative was developed by the Cultural Alliance as a response to the current COVID-19 crisis. We know that the road ahead is long and uncertain, but we also know that together we will get through this. Through RestART, the Cultural Alliance will be working with 10 arts and culture organizations who were impacted the most by the crisis. The goal of this project is to bridge the gap between the concerns of audiences and the needs of arts and culture organizations to encourage broader participation in the Philadelphia arts and culture community.
The RestART Initiative is made possible by our local sponsor, PECO. PECO is committed to supporting a stronger workforce, ensuring energy empowerment in the community, strengthening enrichment through local vitality and providing equal access to arts and culture. To learn more about how PECO is powering the community, visit https://www.peco.com/SafetyCommunity/. Additional support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.
Today on the podcast, our summer series collaboration with Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance’s “RE-START Initiative”, draws to a close with the Initiative’s champions, Kabria Rogers and Roberta Johnson. Stay Tuned.
The RestART Organizations we heard from:
FUNDERS:
National Endowment for the Arts
Learn more about RestART!
RestART: The Arts are Back!
https://phillyfunguide.com/editorial/restart-the-arts-are-back
It is the mission of Tiny Dynamite to offer audiences new ways to experience theater and artists new ways to create it. We present high-quality plays at modest ticket prices, in an environment that is intimate, social, joyful, and welcoming.
Our principal project is A Play, a Pie and a Pint®, a form of theater that breaks down perceptions that the arts are only for special occasions: we offer inventive short plays, in unexpected spaces, served with food and beverages.
KC MacMillan
PRODUCING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Kathryn MacMillan (she/her) is a Philadelphia-based theater director and arts leader who has led Tiny Dynamite since 2017. KC has directed nearly 50 productions in the Philadelphia area and beyond; recent productions include Unraveled (off-Broadway: Theatre Row), Romeo and Juliet (Commonwealth Classic Theatre Company); The Comedy of Errors (Dram Tree Shakespeare, Wilmington, NC); Grounded (InterAct); Mrs. Warren’s Profession at Lantern Theater Company, where she was the Associate Artistic Director for eight seasons; and The Revolutionists at Theatre Horizon, where she served as Guest Artistic Director for the 2017/18 season.
KC’s notable productions include recent Barrymore Award nominations for directing (Jane Austen, Abridged, Tiny Dynamite, also co-writer; The Revolutionists, Theatre Horizon); and the critically acclaimed The Beauty Queen of Leenane (named Best Production of the 2012/13 season & Best Director by Philadelphia Weekly, who called her “sensationally gifted”), The Liar (Best Production Honorable Mention that same season), Arcadia (Runner up, Best Overall Production & Best Director by Phindie Independent Critic Awards), Doubt (named one of the Best Plays of 2015 by the Philadelphia Daily News), The Breath of Life (Barrymore Award nomination: Outstanding Overall Production of a Play), The Hothouse (Barrymore nominations for Outstanding Direction & Outstanding Production of a Play), and I Am My Own Wife (Barrymore nominations for Outstanding Direction and Outstanding Production of a Play and winner of the Virginia Brown Martin Philadelphia Award). In 2015, KC was named one of Billy Penn’s Who’s Next: 16 Young Philadelphians Shaping the Arts Scene.
Email: kc@tinydynamite.org
FOR MORE INFORMATION: https://tinydynamite.org
Learn more about RestART!
RestART: The Arts are Back!
https://phillyfunguide.com/editorial/restart-the-arts-are-back
Today on the podcast, our 8-part summer series collaboration with Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance’s “RE-START Initiative”, continues with Intercultural Journeys where we explore how the organization has fared during the pandemic. Here is my interview with Carly Rapaport-Stein, Executive Director of Intercultural Journeys.
OUR VISION
Intercultural Journeys boldly leverages the power of the performing arts to catalyze social change, challenge bias, and create spaces for dialogue and understanding by presenting culturally diverse voices that celebrate and affirm our shared humanity.
OUR VISION
We imagine a world of more:
more welcome, more curiosity, more empathy, and more connection.
Where more voices tell our history and shape our future,
and we create an inclusive space to be still, to listen, to watch, to dance, and to learn together;
Where recognition and respect for one and all are the starting point, and not the finish line,
and love drives our journey forward.
Learn more about RestART!
RestART: The Arts are Back!
https://phillyfunguide.com/editorial/restart-the-arts-are-back
Today on the podcast, our 8-part summer series collaboration with Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance’s “RE-START Initiative”, continues with Kun-Yang Lin Dancers. In our conversation, we learn how a dance company has fared during the pandemic. Here is my interview with Katie Moore-Derkits, Executive Director and Maggie Zhao, Assistant Artistic Director of Kun-Yang Lin Dancers.
Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers (KYL/D) is one of the country’s premier contemporary Asian-American professional dance companies based in Philadelphia. Hailed for its superbly trained dancers and inventive choreography, the internationally-active KYL/D’s ensemble of professional dance artists – trained in the company's unique CHI AWARENESS PRACTICE that is deeply rooted in Asian art forms, contemplative practices and philosophies. Artistic Director Lin's zen-inspired practice of dance manifests in lush works of poetic sensibility that The New York Times says "create and inhabit worlds of their own." Lin draws upon insights from his ongoing research throughout Asia and around the globe, creating a personal movement language that is suffused with strong spiritual underpinnings.
KYL/D has performed around the world, including at the Tanzmesse International Dance Festival (Dusseldorf), Busan International Dance Festival (Korea), Jogia International and AsiaTri festivals (Indonesia), Festival Internacional de Danza in Queretaro (Mexico), Victoria Theatre (Singapore), HsinChu Performing Arts Center (Taiwan).
In the U.S., KYL/D has performed at Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival, Interlochen Festival, Columbia Festival, Kaatsbaan International Dance, Jacob's Pillow Inside/Out, Dancing in the Streets Festival, the Painted Bride Art Center, the Annenberg Center, the Kimmel Center, the Forrest Theater, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Barnes Foundation, and Philadelphia's City Hall.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: https://kyld.org
Learn more about RestART!
RestART: The Arts are Back!
https://phillyfunguide.com/editorial/restart-the-arts-are-back
Today on the podcast, as part of our 8-part summer series collaboration with Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance’s “RE-START Initiative”, our conversations continue with EgoPo Classic Theatre as we explore how the organization has fared during the pandemic. Here is my interview with Katrina Foy, Managing Director of EgoPo Classic Theatre.
EgoPo transforms timeless works of literature into innovative and immersive theatrical events.
We re-envision the classic canon by re-introducing diverse works and re-bodying existing canonical works to ensure a wide range of voices, bodies and stories are shared on our stages.
We honor and re-awaken these classic texts through a rigorous practice fusing psychological and physical acting and staging.
We curate season-long journeys that foster an inclusive audience space for shared experiences and human connection across cultures and communities.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: https://egopo.org
Learn more about RestART!
RestART: The Arts are Back!
https://phillyfunguide.com/editorial/restart-the-arts-are-back
Da Vinci Art Alliance (DVAA) was founded in 1931 by sixteen Italian immigrant artists and collectors at a time when immigrants were barred from major artistic, academic, and scientific institutions. DVAA was a creative refuge where members could show their works, hold meetings, engage in social activities, and offer intellectual and cultural exchanges and events. Together, they chose as their namesake the master of the Italian Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci.
DVAA permanently moved to 704 Catharine St. in South Philadelphia in 1966. Since then, the building has housed artist studios and exhibitions annually.
In 2015, DVAA hired its first full-time Executive Director to improve the Artist Membership program. DVAA’s Artist Membership program now offers several annual exhibition opportunities for artists and critically engaged programs monthly. To build community within Philadelphia, DVAA has created a Fellowship program for underserved artists, designed an annual community art and science festival called Da Vinci Fest, and installed a permanent mural on our building.
DVAA is housed in a rowhome in the Bella Vista area of South Philadelphia. In an essay by Ricki Sablove they speak about our neighborhood as a part of Philadelphia “that sparkles with the history of its people--a history rich with the music of opera and organ grinders, redolent with the wonderful aromas of Italian cooking, and alive with the dialects brought from faraway places.” Read more about our vibrant neighborhood here.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: https://davinciartalliance.org/
Learn more about RestART!
RestART: The Arts are Back!
https://phillyfunguide.com/editorial/restart-the-arts-are-back
Rooted in Arab arts and language, Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture offers artistic and educational programming that enriches cross-cultural understanding and celebrates diversity.
“Al-Bustan,” Arabic for “The Garden,” serves youth and adults of all ethnic, religious, and socio-economic backgrounds, while supporting the pursuit and affirmation of Arab American cultural identity and playing a constructive civic role within broader American society.
Mohannad Ghawanmeh: Executive Director
Mohannad is a scholar, cineaste, educator, and culturist intimately at large. A teacher of communication and media for twenty-five years, Mohannad’s instruction has centered on the cinema, for which he has also written, produced, acted, consulted, programmed, and curated. He is co-founder of the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival produced by Mizna. Mohannad curated the first editions of the Arab American National Museum’s film festival and the Minneapolis/St. Paul Italian Film Festival, as well as the series Melnitz Movies at University of California, Los Angeles. Mohannad is well awarded and published, having earned in 2020 his PhD from UCLA in Cinema and Media Studies. His research of the cinema decidedly examines such intersecting fields as governmentality, migration, nativity, religion, theater, music, literature, industrialization, and modernity typically in the mold of cultural history. Born to Palestinian refugees and an immigrant to the United States, Mohannad has also lived in Egypt, Japan, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. Mohannad thrives on conjoining education and cultural production, connecting people and places, enriching and inspiring.
To contact Mohannad please email: mg@albustanseeds.org
Learn more about RestART!
RestART: The Arts are Back!
https://phillyfunguide.com/editorial/restart-the-arts-are-back
Learn more about RestART!
RestART: The Arts are Back!
https://phillyfunguide.com/editorial/restart-the-arts-are-back