UPDATE on Partners:
Making Homes for the Arts in Sacred Places
APASO and Dance USA
Since Making Homes for the Arts in Sacred Places
(AiSP) began two years ago, Partners has
reconnected with New Dollars graduates to help
them share space with arts groups while also
introducing ourselves to the arts community.
Though Partners has over two decades’ worth
of experience with congregational and faith
groups, we wanted to find ways to connect with
strong arts partners. To that end, Partners
has started to establish ties with arts-service
organizations throughout the country.
Timing is everything in the arts and the
timing of our efforts to find new networks was
perfect as the Association of Performing Arts
Service Organizations (APASO) held its annual
conference in Philadelphia in 2013, with
Partners as part of the Host City Committee.
We garnered interest in and support for our
arts programming from cities like Baltimore,
Los Angeles, and San Francisco. We are
excited to know that there are potential
partners for us from coast to coast.
At a charrette held to brainstorm ideas for the best way to adapt a former
elementary school into the nation’s first Theatrical Design Center, participants
use floor plans to map out how to reconfigure classrooms into production and
fabrication spaces.
Partners is also serving on the committee for Dance USA’s
national conference this summer. We are looking forward
to discussing the needs of dancers from across the country
as we explore more spaces for rehearsals, experiments,
and performances. With these two new connections,
Partners is positioning itself as a key organization for
serving artists nationally.
Theatrical Design Center
In our pursuit of innovation, Partners is establishing the
Philadelphia Theatrical Design Center, funded in part
through a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight
Foundation, as part of its Knight Arts Challenge. The
first of its kind in the country, the center will provide
co-working space for theatrical designers, as well as
laboratory, experimentation, and fabrication space that
is critical to any designer’s success. The Design Center
will provide opportunities to collaboratively create new
work that will benefit the greater Philadelphia theatre
community and its audiences.
Partners is collaborating with Culture Works Greater
Philadelphia on the launch and implementation of the
Design Center. We wanted to understand what aspects of
the center were most essential and how to configure the
site – the former elementary school building of Our Lady
of Mount Carmel Roman Catholic Church (OLMC) – in
the most effective manner, allowing room for growth,
change, and possibly third-party renters. To accomplish
these goals, Partners hosted a charrette to discuss layout
and outfitting of the building, which will be shared with
1812 Productions, the region’s only all-comedy theatre
company.
Partners enlisted the assistance of Bob Reid, architect and
associate at Kimmel Bogrette Architecture + Site, to guide
the charrette, held in March at the Design Center’s new
home. Participants included staff from Partners, Culture
Sacred Places • Spring 2013 • 10