upcoming grant deadline: 05/15/2024

upcoming grant deadline: 05/15/2024

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Race Peace Philly

Leeway Foundation co-presents "Race Peace," a multi-generational performance project that deals with the debilitating fog of racism in an attempt to provide an opportunity for people to celebrate and explore common bonds, debate their differences, and lay the civic foundation to pursue solutions to the issues that impact their communities.

Race Peace uses spoken word, music and songs, satire, physical theater, short film and dance, story circles, and sociometric exercises to engage participants in dialogue about race and racism and how it affects our personal and interpersonal relationships. Through the process, participants can begin to craft a shared understanding of the complexities of racism, both individual and institutional.

For this special Philadelphia edition, in conjunction with REVOLVE and Grantmakers in the Arts, featured performers include dancer/musicians Germaine Ingram (LTA '08, ACG '12) with Diane Monroe, emcee Invincible, theater ensemble Mondo Bizarro, and performance duo M.U.G.A.B.E.E. The evening will be hosted by playwright Radha Blank and feature music by DJ precolumbian (LTA '13, ACG '11). Admission is free but registration is highly encouraged to expedite entry.

Download the program guide

ABOUT THE PERFORMERS

Germaine Ingram is a jazz tap dancer, composer/choreographer, and vocal improviser. Her work is a constant evolution of styles and traditions learned from legendary Philadelphia hoofer LaVaughn Robinson (1927-2008), her teacher, mentor, and performance partner for more than 25 years. Through choreography, performance, writing, production, and oral history documentation, she explores themes related to history, collective memory, and social justice.

Diane Monroe is an accomplished violinist and has performed with world-renowned musicians from Yo-Yo Ma to Max Roach. Presently, she performs with her jazz quartet/quintet and as a duo with vibraphonist Tony Miceli. As a composer, Diane has written music for plays, and as a performer, served as concertmaster of the Pennsylvania Ballet Orchestra and performed with Zero Moving Company and Mark Morris Dance Company.

Invincible is a Detroit-based artist whose spitfire wordplay has received acclaim from fans all across the world. Co-founder of EMERGENCE Media, they released their debut album ShapeShifters (2008) and are currently working with renown producer Waajeed, multimedia artist and creative technologist Carlos Garcia, and visual artist Wesley Taylor on Complex Movements, an interactive multimedia installation based hip-hop collective.

Mondo Bizarro is a collective of individuals that creates, presents, and produces a wide array of imaginative projects aimed at utilizing art as a tool for illuminating the beauty and travails of the human condition. Their work is intentionally multidisciplinary, ranging from physical theater to large-scale community festivals; from social media to site-specific productions.

M.U.G.A.B.E.E. is a duo of real brothers from rural Raymond, MS that fuse jazz, hip-hop, spoken word, soul, R&B, and non-traditional storytelling to create a signature sound they call "transuniversol". For more than fifteen years they have created space for vital and often missing voices to participate in critical discussions about freedom, justice, and equality.

DJ precolumbian (Chaska Sofia) is a Philadelphia-based genderqueer DJ, musician, artist, media activist, and popular educator. She transforms dancefloors into block parties with a unique blend of tropical rhythms, indie anthems, dark crystals, and booty jams from all over the globe. creating spaces that are positive, inclusive and safe; she works tirelessly to resist racism, misogyny and homophobia… in the club!

Radha Blank is the author of nine plays, a 2013 Sundance Institute UCROSS Playwright, a 2011 Helen Merrill Awardee, a 2011 NEA New Play Development Awardee (for SEED), a NYFA Fellow, a Nickelodeon Writing Fellow, member of The Public Theater’s 2009 Emerging Writers Group, and winner of the 2013 BlackStar Film Festival Screenplay Competition (for FOH).

Race Peace is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation Fund Project, co-commissioned by Junebug Productions in partnership with Roadside Theater, M.U.G.A.B.E.E., and Mondo Bizarro. This work has been supported by Louisiana Division of the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, Alternate ROOTS, Louisiana State Arts Council, and the We Shall Overcome Fund.

More info on REVOLVE: An Art and Change Symposium

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APPLY FOR A

Leeway grant?

Window of Opportunity Grant

The Window of Opportunity (WOO) grant provides financial assistance of up to $1,500 to Leeway grant and award recipients to help them take advantage of imminent, time-sensitive opportunities to support their art for social change practice. The Community Care Fund (CCF) provides financial assistance of up to $1,250 to Leeway grant and award recipients to support with immediate and essential emergency needs. [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)

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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?

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