Seven West Philadelphia-based artists to create participatory activations engaging local businesses & community members
The Barnes Foundation and People’s Emergency Center (PEC), through their collaborative initiative Barnes West, have announced seven West Philadelphia-based social-impact artists who have been selected to participate in the second annual Everyday Places Artist Partnerships initiative: Nikki Brake-Sillá, Shanina Dionna, Gigi McGraw, Anssumane Silla, Jaime Wiesner & Joanna Booth, and Yidan Zeng.
A launch party is scheduled for Wednesday, May 18, at 5:30 pm at Imperial Caribbean & Seafood (725 N 42nd Street) for community members to meet the artists and learn more about their projects.
Barnes West conceived Everyday Places Artist Partnerships in 2021 to provide West Philadelphia residents with spaces to engage with multidisciplinary artistic projects that offer inspiration and promote hope and healing. This year’s cohort of artists will partner with “everyday” locations in the neighborhood—including public parks, civic centers, and community organizations—to build interactive, participatory projects that engage with the business or site and residents. The projects began rolling out last month and will continue through September.
Barnes West is supported by a grant from the William Penn Foundation. The Barnes Foundation’s community engagement programs are made possible, in part, by generous support from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) and the William Penn Foundation.
“PEC looks forward to building on the success of Everyday Places Artist Partnerships last year and seeing how the artists and partner sites work together to create more opportunities for
people to exchange ideas, build understanding, have fun, and strengthen relationships,” says Kathy Desmond, President of People’s Emergency Center.
