This program is funded by the William Penn Foundation and PECO Powering the Arts.
Art Forward Engaging NW Philly
Art Forward is an 18-month resident-driven community engagement project funded by the William Penn Foundation and Peco Powering the Arts. Led by Allens Lane Art Center, the Mt. Airy CDC, Just Act, LLC, and a Community Action Team (CAT), the project seeks to learn from the stories of Mt. Airy and Germantown neighbors about what matters most to them in arts and culture. The insights gained will inform a neighborhood-specific plan for programming in Northwest Philly, including educational offerings and public events. This plan will guide Allens Lane Art Center in launching new community initiatives both on- and off-campus and will be widely shared with partners and interested local organizations. By centering residents’ voices in this participatory, multi-racial process, Allens Lane Art Center will promote community leadership, transparency, and resource-sharing in developing new arts and culture initiatives that address local needs.
Project Background:
Art Forward emerged from Allens Lane Art Center’s desire to reconnect with the NW Philly communities and to define the next chapter of the Center’s programming in collaboration with our neighbors. In 2022, the Center’s staff approached social practice artist, facilitator, and educator Dr. Lisa Jo Epstein of Just Act, LLC, to develop a project that would help the Center better understand the needs and interests of the people we serve. After a year of planning, in June of 2024, Art Forward kicked off with a community event gathering local leaders, artists, ALAC staff, and Board members. Attendees learned about Just Act’s resident-driven arts and community-based engagement model, which will guide Art Forward’s research for new arts and culture education programs. Participants experienced the Story Circle Process as well as Epstein’s approach for groups to harvest data from their own stories such as what they value about art and its impact on them; combined, this data tells the story of the collective and offers a public, shared vision of how and why art matters to them.
In September of 2024, a Community Action Team (CAT) was brought together, consisting of representatives from the Mt. Airy and Germantown neighborhoods who are charged with strategically planning and administering the Art Forward Project. As a model of shared leadership and decision-making resides at the center of our project, the CAT will ensure community voices drive all research and project planning for new arts and culture programs. Our CAT consists of ALAC and Mt. Airy CDC staff, local teaching artists, educators, and community leaders – people with a stake in local arts and culture programs and who understand such programs’ potential for positive impacts on individuals and neighborhoods. The CAT participated in an orientation training in August 2024 and has been meeting since then.
Next Steps
In the Fall of 2025, Art Forward will host a series of Story Circle events throughout NW Philly to which residents of all ages from Mt Airy and Germantown will be invited to participate. ALAC’s commitment to community leadership as well as building and strengthening collaborative partners extends to the Story Circle events which will be led by a trained new ensemble of local residents aptly named the Story Engagement Team (aka SET). They will facilitate the process of sharing personal stories about meaningful experiences participants have had with art, culture, and creativity. Listening to each other’s stories will build knowledge and awareness of the range and impact of experiences with arts and culture, while the theatrical improvisational “Gift-Backs”, complete with live percussion, will underscore the public value and beauty of what has been shared. With Art Forward, ALAC seeks to inspire participants to reimagine vibrant neighborhood-wide possibilities for arts and culture programs that can improve community health and well-being, and harness a shared vision for a dynamic program plan reflective of all who live here in NW Philly. that reflects the Northwest. As the Art Forward project expands into story circles, the basic themes that have emerged from preliminary planning and research will create a context to interpret results from the general community.
The findings from the Art Forward community research will also culminate in an artistic exhibit featuring the project’s lead visual artist Naomieh Jovin complemented by active participation from the public and the SET. Upon completion of the project, ALAC and partners will present the findings of our research, share artwork created by and with the public, and speak to the co-created community responsive vision for the future of inclusive multidisciplinary arts and culture programs in and for Northwest Philadelphia.
