ARTIST FELLOWSHIPS
Philadelphia’s Cultural Treasures Artist Fellowships were designed to help a full spectrum of BIPOC artists and cultural practitioners—working in traditional forms and boundary-breaking practices—dream more, take risks and experiment, and pursue interests and collaborations that nourish them.
This funding opportunity, which concluded in 2024, offered financial support, resources, and professional development opportunities to promote each Fellow’s well-being and advance their careers. Two rounds of Philadelphia’s Cultural Treasures Artist Fellowships were awarded, in 2022 and 2024, through a nomination and panel selection process.
2024 PHILADELPHIA’S CULTURAL TREASURES ARTIST FELLOWS
Naw Doh: Since arriving in Philadelphia from Burma in 2002, Naw Doh has been a community leader for other resettled Karen refugees from Burma, working to preserve their culture through traditional weaving, storytelling, music, dance, and gardening practices. She is a master practitioner of fiber art traditions at risk as the Karen people face continued persecution, founding Weaving a Karen Future in 2020, which grew into the Karen Community Association of Philadelphia in 2024. She also serves as a translator for Karen youth and elders. Weaving a Karen Future on Facebook
Charlyn Magdaline Griffith-Oro: Trained as a sociologist and ecologist, Griffith-Oro is an interdisciplinary social practice artist concerned with ancestral lineage, systems of power, and collective care as world-building. Their work includes visual art, film, performance, and ritual gathering that tends to the “expanses of Black life,” often referencing archives and exploring their Caribbean identity. They are the founder of Wholistic.art, a creative agency centering cultural production in community development, and the Free Brunch Program, a no-cost food sharing project. Wholistic.art
Leo Gadson: Gadson is one of the first jazz producers in Philadelphia and the founder of the Producer’s Guild, which has presented and supported jazz in Philadelphia since 1975. He has presented and collaborated with a wide range of jazz performers, including Cecil Taylor, Ahmad Jamal, and Jackie McLean, showcasing exemplary Black musicians for Philadelphia audiences for half a century. Leo Gadson on Instagram
Vaughnda Hilton: Hilton is an Indigenous artist, descending from the Blackfeet, Seminole, and Creek nations, who performs and teaches traditional dances and songs, building connection and belonging within Indigenous communities. She shares tribal culture through public events and partnerships with Indigenous leaders and Philadelphia city government. She is the founder and CEO of Native Nations Dance Theater and AfroDanze and served as president of the United American Indians of the Delaware Valley, among other education and advocacy group leadership roles.
Ruth Naomi Floyd: Floyd is a vocalist, composer, flutist, photographer, historical researcher, educator, and justice worker. As a jazz vocalist, she has recorded six albums expressing themes of theology, history, and justice. Her performances, lectures, and photography, along with historical work on extraordinary Philadelphians like Octavius Catto, Marian Anderson, and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, expand on these themes as well as beauty, culture, and the arts. Ruth Naomi Floyd on Instagram
Germaine Ingram: Ingram’s multidisciplinary creative practice spans dance and vocal improvisation, choreography, performance, oral history, songwriting, archival research, cultural preservation, and filmmaking. She began her arts career in the 1980s, employing jazz tap dance to explore the cultural contributions and internal lives of Black people, especially Philadelphians and women. As both a leader on a range of creative projects and a collaborator and mentor for other artists, Ingram’s practice illuminates history, animates collective memory, preserves cultural traditions, and pursues social justice.
Anthony Mendez: Mendez is the director and lead percussionist of Los Bamberos De La Calle, a musical group performing traditional and contemporary bomba and plena music and dance. This Afro-Puerto Rican musical style dates back to the 17th century with a connection to the African and Indigenous Taino roots in the Caribbean. In addition to performing, he has taught these musical traditions to Philadelphians across generations and cultures for two decades. phillybombaplena.com
Michelle Angela Ortiz: A visual artist, muralist, and filmmaker, Ortiz has created more than 50 large-scale public works and has led public art projects around the world. Her socially engaged practice examines issues of immigration, socio-economic inequalities, and human rights, working with communities to reveal their strength and spirit and translate their stories into rich, emotive imagery. michelleangela.com
Alex Shaw: Shaw is a percussionist, composer, cultural producer, and educator specializing in Afro-Brazilian musical traditions and the Brazilian martial art of Capoeira Angola. In addition to composing music for theater, dance, and film, he has served as director and lead vocalist of the musical ensemble Alô Brasil and section leader in the Spoken Hand Percussion Orchestra. Alex Shaw on Instagram
Richard J. Watson: Watson is a visual artist whose work encompasses paintings of landscapes and traditional forms as well as collage, found objects, clothing, music, literature, and poetry. He has served as artist-in-residence at the African American Museum in Philadelphia for more than 20 years. His visual works blend elements of memory, dreams, ancestral references, issues of social politics, and daily life. watsonartforyou.com
FORTUNE: FORTUNE is a print collective, assembled by and for queer and trans Asian publics. Conceived by Andra Palchick, Heidi Ratanavanich, and Connie Yu, FORTUNE approaches printing and self-publishing as a practice of learning, gathering, remembering, and making multiple. Their risograph print studio, Many Folds Press, provides accessible, responsive print services to broaden reach for queer and BIPOC stories. The studio’s catalogue includes resource guides and functional objects distributed through alternative, slow, or intentional means. printingfortunes.info
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Daryl Kwasi Burgee: A musician and leading educator with four decades of expertise in West African music and cultural traditions, Burgee is the founder and artistic director of Spoken Hand Percussion Orchestra and Jaasu Ballet African Dance. He has played on more than 250 recordings with a wide range of artists, performed with The Philadelphia Orchestra, and taught in schools throughout the Delaware Valley as well as nationally and internationally.
Vashti Dubois: Dubois is a social practice artist and multidisciplinary cultural producer. She is the founder and executive director of The Colored Girls Museum, which "honors the stories, experiences, and history of ordinary Colored Girls.” Her artistic work includes the forthcoming book Housework: A Memoir, curation, and multidisciplinary performances that address issues such as black feminism, housing, public health, and the juvenile justice system. thecoloredgirlsmuseum.com
Maori Karmael Holmes: Holmes is a curator, filmmaker, and writer who has organized programs across the US and whose films have screened internationally. She is the founder and chief executive & artistic officer of BlackStar Projects, which produces year-round programming and a highly acclaimed annual film festival centered on the work of Black, Brown, and Indigenous artists. blackstarfest.org
Homer Jackson: An interdisciplinary artist, curator, and producer, Jackson uses multimedia, live performance, and audience participation to tell stories and investigate elements of the Black experience in America. He has over 30 years’ experience as a teaching artist working in community settings and is executive director of the Philadelphia Jazz Project. philajazzproject.org
Wit López: As a multidisciplinary visual artist, performance artist, and essayist, López combines the skills of fiber art, painting, collage, and photography with elements of theater and classical music to explore accessibility, queerness, gender identity, Blackness, and Latinidad. López is founder and artistic director of Till Arts Project, which provides resources for LGBTQ+ artists and creators. witlopez.com
Roberto Lugo: Lugo is a visual artist, social activist, poet, and educator whose ceramic works blend classical pottery forms and decorative patterns with iconography reminiscent of his North Philadelphia upbringing and hip-hop culture. Highlighting themes of poverty, inequality, and racial injustice, his work has received international recognition and is held in the permanent collections of several museums. robertolugostudio.com
Louis Massiah: Massiah is a documentary filmmaker whose work has been broadcast on PBS and screened at festivals and museums internationally. He is the founder and director of Scribe Video Center. Massiah has earned numerous honors for his 40 years of innovation in documentary filmmaking and community-based media that centers the stories and voices of Black people and all those who are offering a vision for progressive social change. scribe.org
Pepón Osorio: A multimedia visual artist, socially engaged practitioner, and educator, Osorio has worked with communities across the US and internationally over his 30-plus-year career, creating installations based on people’s real-life experiences and merging conceptual art and community dynamics. His work has been presented at major museums as well as in storefronts, department stores, and homes throughout the world. tyler.temple.edu
Ursula Rucker: Rucker is a poet, performer, recording artist, and activist whose work reflects on personal history, family, place, and social justice. Over her career spanning nearly three decades, Rucker has released five albums and collaborated with a wide range of artists and cultural organizations. She is a mentor to emerging poets and a creator and facilitator of programs for communities across Philadelphia. instagram.com/urucker
Sinta Penyami Storms: Storms is a dance artist and community leader dedicated to preserving and promoting Indonesian tradition and culture as well as raising awareness of social justice and immigration issues. She is the founder of Modero & Company dance group, offering programs to bring Philadelphia's Indonesian community together and presenting performances throughout the city. sintapenyami.com
Andrea Walls: With nearly 30 years as a multidisciplinary artist, poet, and curator, Walls celebrates and commemorates Black life and culture in Philadelphia and beyond through platforms such as the online Museum of Black Joy and the Black Joy Symposium, a series of programs to “imagine and ritualize an opulent Black future rooted in joy.” museumofblackjoy.com/the-artist
Yolanda Wisher: As a poet, singer, educator, and curator, Wisher has been commissioned by and organized major programs and events with numerous organizations. Her work engages poetry as both an intimate and shared public experience and as a vehicle to nurture and mobilize communities. Wisher has been Poet Laureate of Philadelphia and of Montgomery County. yolandawisher.com -
Two Artist Fellowship cycles were offered, the first in 2022 and concluding with the 2024 cohort. General operating support grants were awarded in 2022, and project grants were awarded in 2024.
During each of the two cycles, up to 12 BIPOC artists or artist collectives received awards of at least $75,000 in unrestricted funds. Of these, awardees who have made a meaningful difference in Philadelphia’s cultural landscape for 20 years or more were eligible to receive $120,000 in unrestricted funds. Additionally, $15,000 was awarded to each Fellow for deposit into a qualified retirement account.
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The nomination and panel review process was designed based on a research and community listening effort led by Risë Wilson, an artist, community organizer, activist, strategic planner, curriculum developer, and nonprofit consultant.
To encourage an applicant pool that represents the breadth of creativity and diversity of BIPOC cultural practices in the Philadelphia region (in terms of neighborhood, discipline, gender, age, and ethnic diversity), the pool of nominators for Philadelphia’s Cultural Treasures Artist Fellowships was equally diverse.
These nominators were asked to name either an artist or a collaborative of artists by sharing written narratives and work samples for their nominee. 36 nominators with expertise in a range of artistic disciplines participated in the 2024 cycle.
After the nomination process concluded, a diverse selection panel representing a broad range of backgrounds—artistically, culturally, generationally, and geographically—reviewed all nominations and from this group recommended the group of Fellows to the funders.
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2024 Panelists
Linda Earle, Retired Professor of Practice, Arts Management & Art History, Tyler School of Art + Architecture
Joyce Chung, Curator, Asian Arts Initiative
James Claiborne, Deputy Director for Community Engagement, The Barnes Foundation
Shannon Maldonado, Founder & Creative Director, YOWIE
Jamie Brunson, Executive Director & Playwright, First Person Arts2024 Nominators
Tailinh Agoyo
Miranda Alexander
Nina Ball
Daryl Burgee
Mark Christman
Rafael Damast
Vashti Dubois
Angel Edwards
Denice Frohman
Rami George
Morgan Green
Helen Haynes
Dustin Hurt
Anne Ishii
John Jarboe
Maori Karmael Holmes
Nehad Khader
Dave Kyu
Wit Lopez
Marángeli Mejia-Rabell
LaNeshe Miller-White
Selina Morales
Indah Nuritasari
Sinta Penyami Storms
Ursula Rucker
Gabriela Sanchez
Atif Sheikh
Gerard Silva
Al Simpkins
Daniel Tucker
Lisa Volta
Andrea Walls
Brittany Webb
Fasina Wilkie
Yolanda Wisher
Aisha Zia Khanscription -
2022 Panelists
Linda Earle, Professor of Practice, Associate Graduate Director, Tyler School of Art + Architecture
Cass Green, Artist & Community Organizer
Dave Kyu, Artist & Writer; Creative Supervisor, Asian Arts Initiative
Selina Morales, Folklife Strategist & Consultant
Dr. George Starks, Professor Emeritus, Music, Drexel University2022 Nominators & Community Advisors
David Acosta
Beth Feldman Brandt
Denise Brown
King Britt
James Claiborne
Laurin Frierson
Helen Gym
Linda Holmes
Maori Karmael Holmes
Germaine Ingram
Anne Ishii
Homer Jackson
Thora Jacobson
Aviva Kapust
Sarah Kolker
Jaamil Olawale Kosoko
Alice Lesnick
Julia Lopez
Ken Lum
Magda Martinez
Trapeta B. Mayson
Jennifer-Navva Milliken
Trinity Norwood
José Ortiz-Pagán
Pepón Osorio
jumatatu m. poe
Victoria Prizzia
Jennifer Rice
Brett Robinson
El Sawyer
Hazami Sayed
Naomi Sturm-Wijesinghe
Li Sumpter
Anthony Tidd
Daniel Tucker
Dyana Williams
Jennifer Zwilling -
Nominators and panelists were asked to consider the same criteria when deciding who qualifies as a Philadelphia’s Culture Treasures Fellow, focusing on the following three considerations:
Quality of Craft
Have successfully completed compelling works
Their work provides insights into their culture and has resonance within their stated communities
Seeks or creates opportunities to engage their stated communities in their practice whether as participant, collaborator, or audience. Ensures their work is accessible beyond white audiences or traditional patrons of the arts
Strong work samples, where the work reflects thoughtful, clear objectives that have been executed well in terms of technical skill, as well as in terms of the artist’s intended social impact if their practice is a socially engaged art form
Quality of Service
Breadth of service – engages in more than one type of service (e.g., mentors peers AND provides mutual aid or creates paid opportunities for peers AND brings programs to community-based organizations, etc.); serves more than one beneficiary group (e.g., veteran artists AND young people in their neighborhood, or specific organizational partners AND various peer groups, etc.)
Compensation – the nominee provides acts of service gratis or does so from a paid position
Described Impact – the nominator can attest to why the nominee’s acts of service are meaningful (whether as a recipient or as a witness) through specific/tangible examples
Commitment to Philly
Work/Career has been primarily based in Philadelphia for at least 5 years; additional consideration for nominees whose length of service to Philly has been 20 years or more
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Nominees must identify as a Black person, Indigenous person, or person of color.
Nominees may be engaged in and across any artistic disciplines, including but not limited to: architecture and design, archiving and archival work, craft, choreography, folk and traditional arts, literature, media, music composition, playwriting and theater, performance art and public engagement, socially engaged art, and visual art.
Collaborative teams with a history of working together are eligible if a majority of the members meet all other eligibility criteria.
Nominees must have a track record of both functioning as artists or cultural workers and investing themselves in Philadelphia’s cultural community for at least five years. Nominees who are eligible for the $120,000 grant must have a track record of contributing to their communities for 20 years or more.
Artists may not be current employees of any of the funding partners, including The Barra Foundation, Neubauer Family Foundation, William Penn Foundation, and Wyncote Foundation. Furthermore, they cannot be members of such employees' households, or people closely related to such employees through blood, marriage, or domestic partnership.
Nomination has no bearing on whether an artist can receive future support (or has received past support) from any of the funding partners.
Artists who hold academic positions are eligible for support; however special consideration will be given for artists who operate independently without the support of an institutional affiliation.