upcoming grant deadline: 05/15/2024

upcoming grant deadline: 05/15/2024

Unpacking Equality in Arts and Culture

Thursday, April 10, 2014 6:00 pm-8:00 pm
[ Leeway Office -1315 Walnut Street, Suite 832 ]
Click [here] to RSVP

A Spiral Q Conversation with the Leeway Foundation, Michael Norris, and the Philadelphia Folklore Project 


Three of this year’s Spiral Q Honorees will have an open conversation about improving equality in the arts and what it means to broaden access to resources for both the artist and audience. Each honoree will share what they’ve done to even the playing field and support historically marginalized communities. This is a space to build connections and spark new ideas! Come prepared to dream, name your vision, and imagine a more culturally inclusive landscape. 

About Denise Brown

Executive Director, Leeway Foundation

Denise is currently Co-Chair of Bread and Roses Community Fund. In addition, she serves on the advisory committee of Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and the boards of Philadelphia’s newly formed Philadelphia Public Access Corporation, Delaware Valley Grantmakers, the Henrietta Wurts Memorial Fund, and Scribe Video Center, a Philadelphia-based media arts organization. She served as Associate Director of the Bread and Roses Community Fund from 1998 to 2005 and was a part of Leeway's program redesign process in 2001. In addition to consulting with the Foundation on a number of projects, she has served as a member of Leeway's Advisory Council and interim Board of Directors, officially joining the staff in July 2006. She previously served on the board of the Funding Exchange and the Women's Community Revitalization Project. A graduate of Brown University, Denise was a film programmer for the Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema, from its debut until 1998. She has also served as a panelist for the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and the Pennsylvania Humanities Council.

About Michael Norris
Interim Executive Director, Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance

Michael Norris joined the Cultural Alliance as Vice President of External Relations in March 2012, where he directs the Alliance’s policy, community engagement and development initiatives.

Previously, Michael served as Executive Director of Art-Reach, where he worked to expand cultural access for people of all ages and circumstances.  During his last year at Art-Reach, the organization enabled 15,000 Philadelphia-area residents with disabilities and economic disadvantages to enjoy a cultural experience. Prior to leading Art-Reach, Michael spent nine years at the Arden Theatre Company, serving first as Development Director, and then as Director of External Relations, overseeing the company’s fundraising, marketing, public relations and community activities.

About Selina Morales
Associate Director, Philadelphia Folklore Project (PFP)

Selina Morales joined the Philadelphia Folklore Project in June 2010, with responsibility for coordinating PFP's public programs and launching its Folk Arts and Social Change residencies. She became Associate Director in 2012, and will become PFP's next Director in 2014.

Morales is a doctoral candidate in folklore at Indiana University, where she completed her M.A., also in folklore. Her dissertation (in progress) draws on her current work at PFP, dealing with contemporary approaches to public folklore. She holds a B.A. in Anthropology from Oberlin College. Before joining PFP, she worked at Traditional Arts Indiana and the Mathers Museum, where she conducted folklife research, developed public programs, and curated exhibitions, including Botanica: A Pharmacy for the Soul, an innovative installation drawing on a 163-piece ethnographic collection documenting Botanica practices in the United States.

About Spiral Q
Philadelphia’s Spiral Q lives at the intersection of arts and social justice. Established in 1996, Spiral Q uses popular arts (parades, print, pageantry, puppets) to build an urban arts democracy rooted in principles of accessibility, inclusion, self-determination, collaboration, sustainability, and life long learning. Spiral Q works with reclaimed and recycled materials, teaches in schools and community organizations throughout the city, leads collaborative planning of giant public art projects, and supports creative community organizing. Spiral Q’s work is nationally recognized for its originality, its capacity to inspire individuals of all ages and backgrounds, and its ability to creatively revitalize communities throughout Philadelphia.

what makes a

Leeway Artist or Cultural Producer?

The following does not describe one kind of artist; rather, it paints a larger picture of the many aspects of different Leeway artists. [read more]

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Upcoming events
04/025:30 pm - 7:00 pm

4/2 Transformation Award (LTA) Awardee Panel + Info Session (In Person)

Have questions about the application process for the Leeway Transformation Award (LTA)?

[learn more]

04/185:30 pm - 6:30 pm

4/18 Transformation Award (LTA) Info Session (Virtual)

Have questions about the application process for the Leeway Transformation Award?

[learn more]