News

We mourn the passing and stand grateful for the lives of musician and activist Joaquin Rivera, artist Ayesha Rahim, and writer Don Belton.

In the news: The Folk Arts Cultural Treasures Charter School (FACTS), founded by Asian Americans United and PFP, is profiled in the latest issue of NEA Arts, available here.

Our winter 2010 events calendar is in press. Email to receive your own copy or download it.

Looking for 50 new members! Help sustain community-based folk arts in these hard times, and in PFP's 23rd year! We invite (and need) your help. Join us (at any amount). . .

New Resources

On this site: More media! Visit our exhibitions and events sections for images, audio and video of recent programs featuring local folk and traditional artists.

Hot off the presses: PFP's magazine! The latest issue of Works in Progress features the travels of Kulu Mele, stories of Linda Goss and others, the current tatreez exhibition at PFP (on Palestinian women's needlework), the activities at recent PFP Liberian and Cambodian culture camps, and more.

Documentary In Progress: We're working on a documentary about klezmer musician Elaine Hoffman Watts, using footage from our Mother's Day klezmer concert. Excerpt here. . .

Events

Technical Assistance workshops for winter/spring are rolling again. Leeway Foundation representaives stop by February 11 (drop in 2 PM - 7 PM) and we offer our Folk Arts-Friendly Funding workshop on February 13 (10 AM - noon *not" February 20, as originally announced). We'll have warm drinks and refreshments to ward off winter chill! Read more.

Palestinian needlework: Monthly workshops where you can learn to do tatreez (and hear stories and histories behind the stitches), first Thursdays 6-8 PM. Read more.

Ready for a story stimulus package? Workshop with Linda Goss and Irma Gardner-Hammond continues monthly on second Wednesdays. Sign up now.

Save the date: Madhusmita Bora introduces sattriya dance and its challenges in an artist salon on March 24.

Save the date: Germaine Ingram, Bobby Zankel and John Dowell share their work on Parallel Destinies, the President's House project April 9. Read more.

Save the date: Screening of PFP's documentary Plenty of Good Women Dancers at Scribe, May 14.

Exhibits

At PFP (Opens February 26, 6-8 PM): Under Autumn Moon: Reclaiming Time and Space in Chinatown. Joan May Cordova and Kathy Shimizu share photographs and block prints documenting Chinatown’s Mid-Autumn Festival, a vital celebration of culture and community. Initiated and produced by Asian Americans United (AAU) for 15 years, Mid-Autumn Festival has been a resource for sustaining this last remaining community of color in Philadelphia’s center city, and for pushing back against predatory development schemes. Organized as part of a series of events celebrating AAU’s 25th Anniversary. Get your own postcard here.

At PFP: Storied Objects. Taking a stand against injustice, making a huge sacrifice for future generations, coming together with others in celebration and struggle: everyday, people are engaged in epic sagas, building best hopes into satisfying lives....

At PFP: If these walls could talk. Bill and Miriam Crawford's actual dining room: four walls collaged with 40 years of social change memorabilia....

Online: Tatreez: Palestinian Women's Embroidery in Philadelphia. Curated by Nehad Khader, this exhibition traces local women's connections to homeland and to one another. View an online version.