THANKFUL. 
Coming out of the post-Peoplehood haze, we have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of positivity and appreciation for Peoplehood. Many people have expressed their gratitude with kind words, among them, “I left energized!” and “It was the most soul-affirming thing I’ve done in a long time…I actually got kind of choked up at the end!” We are grateful to YOU. Peoplehood is powered by the people, so we thank you for bringing your love, laughter and enthusiasm and making this Peoplehood the best ever! Thousands of people were drawn to the art-making, skill-sharing, and performances in the park, making this the biggest Peoplehood to date.

TRANSFORMED.
Times are hard, but unlike other events, you can’t cancel a holiday! With fewer fiscal resources to rely on, we turned instead to our core values of collaboration, inclusion, self-determination, sustainability, and learning, and were inspired to do so much more, even with less.  It took a wealth of creativity and collaboration to bring Peoplehood to life this year. Our core values provided the foundation for seamless partnerships with our presenting partners, the Community Education Center, The Rotunda, and the Paul Robeson House, as well as over fifty local organizations, together capitalizing on our collective resources to make this larger than life vision a reality.

INSPIRED.
The spirit of Peoplehood – the courage of our communities to act on their convictions – drives everything we do at Spiral Q. Though the holiday is over, we are busy as ever bringing its spirit to communities across the city, and the activists and artists working in the studio bring it here with them every day. We are bringing it to Bache Martin Elementary, where we are working with every student in the school  Your support allows us to inspire other and to continue building strong and equitable communities characterized by creativity, joy, can-do attitudes and the courage to act on their convictions.

As the end of the year approaches, will you help us continue to bring inspiring events to communities around our city? Donate today to keep the spirit of Peoplehood alive in the year to come!
THANK YOU to All of the Participating Groups!
ACT-UP, BuildOn, Education Works, Flat Mary Road, Friends of Clark Park, Girard Medical Center, Granny Peace Brigade, Harris Steppers, Lary Moten of Mosaic Theatre Productions, PLP the Unity, Project H.O.M.E., Project Theater Project Rent School Edition, Ron Wood’s CEC Capeoira class, Urban Tree Connection, New Freedom Theater, West Philadelphia Cooperative School, West Powelton Steppers, Women’s Caucus for Art
…and a very special thanks to our
presenting partners!

Community Education Center
The Paul Robeson House
The Rotunda

Get Involved!
Email community@spiralq.org with any questions.

1. Come to the Peoplehood Open Studios this Saturday and Sunday, October 1st and 2nd to make parade art  and help us get ready.
2. Give us a ring to stop by the Q and pick a puppet for your family or friends to walk with in the parade.
3. Register your group or organization to walk in the parade or be a part of the festival fun.
4. Volunteer to help with the parade or to run the activities at the Festival in the park.
5. Join us at the pageant rehearsal on Saturday, Oct. 22nd to learn a part.

Where: Spiral Q Puppet Theater, 3114 Spring Garden St.
When: Monday July 11th, at 7:00PM
How much: $5 donation at the door

The Mysterious Rabbit Puppet Army rolls into town on Monday, July 11th as part of its whirlwind, month-long excursion across the continental United States to raise awareness about the prison system. The tour stop will include a few different shows. The feature show uses shadow puppets to outline the history of the Prison Industrial Complex, from chattel slavery in the south to where it is today. The other show is a modernized Hansel and Gretel. All of the shows are child friendly.

The tour will raise awareness about the Prison Industrial Complex and the ways in which police and policing hurt our communities.

“Our goal in this tour is to use art to explore these relationships and brainstorm with our audiences how we can fight this brutally racist system.” said Mysterious Puppeteer Michael Snacks.

The United States currently imprisons nearly 3 million people. About 6.5 million people are presently under some form of supervision within the criminal justice system. Racism continues to be a major factor in the United States, illustrated by policies and programs that sustain white supremacy. Racism, as it is used through criminal laws that target people of color, is essential to prisons, not accidental. The Prison Industrial Complex is also fueled by dramatic and racist reporting about “crime,” “delinquency,” and “rebellion,” creating a culture of fear. As a result, people (primarily people of color, youth, and the poor) are locked in cages for longer and longer in the interests of “public safety.” The way the many parts of the Prison Industrial Complex interact is exactly what makes it so powerful and destructive. In order to fight this system, we have to recognize what drives and shapes it.

The tour is being co-sponsored by the Chapel Hill Prison Books Collective, a part of the books to prisoners network.
Click here For more information on the Mysterious Rabbit Puppet Army.

Help spread the love this February by donating to Spiral Q! To show how much we love you, we’ll send a Valentine to your loved one, a family member, your best friend, an archenemy, or that Q-tie you’ve got your eye on! Your support will make sure that we can continue to provide crucial services to Philadelphia’s children and communities in this especially difficult year, including violence reduction projects at Bache-Martin School and South Philadelphia High School, and a community parade at Norris Square.

For every $10 you donate, we’ll send a handmade, screenprinted Valentine to the recipient of your choice—or, if you wish to personalize your Valentines and deliver them yourself, we can send them directly to you. The first printing of Valentines will be sent out on Wednesday, February 2. After Wednesday, each Valentine will be sent within one business day of the receipt of your donation, so donate now to get them in time for Valentine’s Day!

The Giant Puppet Extravaganza Brings Neighbors Together,
Highlights Power Of Spiral Q’s Mission

This summer, Spiral Q board and staff members reworked the organization’s mission, shifting from “Illuminating the victories, frustrations and concerns of communities…” to its more participatory and active, “Spiral Q Puppet Theater builds strong and equitable communities characterized by creativity, joy, can-do attitudes, and the courage to act on their convictions.” Peoplehood is one of the events and mechanisms through which Spiral Q pursues its mission.

This Saturday, for the 11th consecutive year, Spiral Q’s Peoplehood Parade and Pageant helped bring neighbors together to celebrate and learn from one another while participating in the pursuit of Spiral Q’s mission. 30 diverse community groups participated in the story-telling, art making, parading and performing process that Peoplehood creates. It’s the range and depth of community supported by Peoplehood that has made it such a cherished event by neighbors. When a group of 17 senior citizens joined the culminating giant puppet parade in wheel chairs decorated with glittery hearts, scores of teens spontaneously and continuously chanted, “L-O-V-E! That’s the way it ought to be!” down the streets of West Philadelphia. Neighbors and participants were equally touched.

Lena Buford, whose group from Mariposa Food Co-Op marched in the parade said, “About 6 years ago back in 2004 I was wandering through West Philly on an October day deciding if I wanted to live there. It just so happened that it was the day of the Peoplehood parade, and I thought – if this is West Philly, then West Philly is for me. I have lived here ever since. Spiral Q’s work and the Peoplehood Parade in particular are huge assets to the community and really reflect some of the things I love about kooky, creative, grassroots, caring West Philly.”

Anne Margrethe, who leads the Art Therapy Unit at Girard Medical Center, a residential, substance abuse and recovery center, said, “It’s one of the most fantastic experiences that our clients have. It’s a powerful day. The beauty of it, the sheer colors and creativity that we all experience is profound. Everyone is so welcoming here. It makes people feel really valued and important in society. It’s certainly one of the highlights of our year.”

West Philadelphia Cultural Alliance president and Paul Robeson House CEO, Fran Aulston, had this to say about Spiral Q and Peoplehood: “It’s like a family reunion and people from all over the city come here. It helps us support our mission; To create community and create arts and opportunity for those from West Philadelphia and beyond. We get to share experiences and we all become advocates for one another and the arts. Thank you, Spiral Q, for your energy and passion and integrity in serving your mission! I love you.”

The following groups participated in this year’s Peoplehood: The Paul Robeson House, The Peoplehood Band, Build On, Girard Medical Center, The Factorye, W. Philly Cooperative Preschool, Park Pleasant Nursing Home, Walnut Hill Comm. Assoc., Promethius Radio, ACT-UP Philadelphia, New Life Consumer Center, Neighborhood Bike Works, New Freedom Theater, The Harris Steppers, Youth Build Philadelphia, The Enterprise Center CDC Street Team, United Block Captains Association, Mariposa Food Cooperative, Philly BDS, Philadelphia Outward Bound, Project Home, Broad Street Ministries, Tasker Elite, Village of Arts and Humanities, Montessori Genesis 2 School, Teens 4 Good, Jane Addams Place, and Friends of Clark Park. This program would not have been possible without the generous support from PNC Arts Alive.

PEOPLEHOOD is Spiral Q’s annual artistic response to the times. It is our joyful, festive demonstration that we as people can come together, grapple with the issues of the day, and respond meaningfully in the streets. Through a giant puppet parade and pageant we offer a magical, relevant and participatory process for Philadelphians to create a new vision for our world…

The Giant Puppet Extravaganza Brings Neighbors Together,
Celebrates Our Stories and Creativity

PEOPLEHOOD is Spiral Q’s annual artistic response to the times. It is our joyful, festive demonstration that we as people can come together, grapple with the issues of the day, and respond meaningfully in the streets. Through a giant puppet parade and pageant we offer a magical, relevant and participatory process for Philadelphians to create a new vision for our world…

This year, Spiral Q has been engaging with groups to discuss how we creatively respond to discrimination. See how heartfelt concerns that lay deep in the fabric of our community are conveyed through the loving and creative process of giant puppet pageantry. See your neighbors carrying personal symbols of identity and transcendence through the streets of West Philadelphia. See young and old perform together in Clark Park. See Philadelphians of every shape, size and hue work things out through play and creativity.

Peoplehood is much more than the spectacle of a giant puppet parade and performance that annually brightens the streets of West Philadelphia on a fun October, Saturday. Peoplehood is a community-building process that brings neighbors together to think about issues and topics that are important to us. Then, in working with Spiral Q artists, these ideas are transformed into huge puppet art, and finally worked into meaningful parade and pageant performances that EVERYONE gets to perform. It’s a fantastic way to get to know your neighbors and community.

Come out to Peoplehood. Walk in the parade or wait for it to arrive at Clark Park and then watch the giant puppet pageant tell a true community story. Peoplehood is like no other Philadelphia tradition. Help us bring this year’s Peoplehood parade and pageant to life! This year’s Peoplehood is made possible through the generous support of PNC ArtsAlive, letting everyone “be part of art.”

PARADE: 1pm at The Paul Robeson House, 50th and Walnut Streets
12pm if you want to join in!

PAGEANT: Watch the pageant around 2pm at Chester and 45th streets. Pack a picnic!
Bring friends and family!

You can feel it in today’s air. Opposition. Conflict. Fear. Battles over immigration. Battles in foreign wars. Right versus left. High school students menacing one another. Pastors wanting to burn holy books. Cheesesteak shop owners in the news. Outrage over mosques. Passion about Ground Zero. Spiral Q invites you to look around at today’s moment and join us in conversation. We want to SHARE STORIES about ENCOUNTERS WITH DISCRIMINATION. Come to Spiral Q and be part of the conversation. We can’t wait to hear and learn from each other. We’re taking the pulse of the people.

Join Spiral Q for the opening of two exhibits that explore the role of printmaking in the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa and in current struggles for justice in Philadelphia.

Teens Revolt: What’s On Our Minds is an exhibition of original silkscreen posters created by Parkway Northwest High School students through Spiral Q’s Education Initiatives. Inspired by the use of posters in the South African anti-apartheid movement, students designed and printed posters that make bold statments about “what’s on their minds.”

This March, Spiral Q traveled to South Africa to meet with artists who were at the center of the anti-apartheid poster movement. Culture and Resistance: South Africa, Then and Now displays images, interviews, and anecdotes from Spiral Q’s trip, and tells the story of the courageous artists who dedicated their lives and work to the struggle for freedom. The exhibit highlights the role of the Medu Art Ensemble and Community Arts Project, two South African collectives of artists and cultural workers.

This program is part of Art in Resistance, Spiral Q’s study and celebration of art’s historic and ongoing role as a liberating force in justice movements throughout the world.