UPDATE on Partners:
Arts in Sacred Places (continued)
Karen DiLossi (second
person to the right of the
woman standing), Director
of Partners’ Arts in Sacred
Places program, attended
the Association of Performing
Arts Service Organizations’
(APASO) national conference
this past spring in an effort
to connect Partners with
arts-service organizations
from across the country.
Photo courtesy 2013 APASO
Conference. Photo credit:
Katrina Ohstrom.
Works, and 1812 Productions; students from Philadelphia
University’s preservation program; Ken Sebra and Mary
Ann Duffy from Duffy Sebra Architecture; Father Francis
Cauterucci of OLMC; and designers, technicians, and
theatre professionals from the Philadelphia region.
1812 Productions will use 25% of the space, with the
Design Center occupying the remaining 75%. Discussion
focused on the features necessary to make the space
useful and ideas for how best to organize the myriad
classrooms and other available areas, including the
full basement. The charrette brought the project to life
for all participants, generating a palpable excitement
over the many possibilities afforded by this location.
Afterward, Partners and Culture Works reached out to arts
constituencies with a survey asking many of the questions
raised at the charrette, which generated another round of
insightful comments and ideas.
11 • Sacred Places • www.sacredplaces.org • Spring 2013
We will spend the next months working on a business
model and beginning the physical work that will
transform the site, instilling it with new vitality. Several
groups, including 1812 Productions, have even expressed
interest in teaching classes there, keeping the spirit of
education alive as this late-1890s school building takes on
a 21st-century purpose.
AiSP Texas
Arts in Sacred Places continues to take shape in Texas as
Partners explores opportunities to bring the program
to Fort Worth, Austin, and Houston, customizing the
program in each city to make sure that Partners is
providing the optimum level of services to both the
arts and faith communities. Partners’ Fort Worth staff
is guiding efforts there, as we partner with the Austin
Creative Alliance in an effort to get the program up and
running in the state capital.