Jazz Bridge Project assists Jazz and Blues musicians living in the Greater Philadelphia Metro area who face financial, health, housing and similar crises.  A registered 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization, they also support musicians by providing paid performance opportunities through their live neighborhood concerts and special event presentations. Their concerts celebrate the Philadelphia Jazz & Blues tradition and build cultural awareness throughout the region. As a service organization in the arts and culture community, they are uniquely positioned to address the suffering resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite new challenges, they remain committed to assisting Jazz and Blues artists of all ages and backgrounds. Read more in our blog!

Spiral Q is a 25 year old arts and justice nonprofit that unleashes the power of art to connect people, actions, values, neighborhoods, organizations, and movements to each other and to their collective creative force for change. They work with up to 100 diverse partners annually, prioritizing disenfranchised communities whose residents are systematically oppressed due to race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic, and sexual identities. They are artists, educators, and cultural workers partnering with schools, youth service providers, CBOs, cultural centers, AIDS service and advocacy groups, LGBTQIA+ groups, advocates for the unhoused, addiction recovery centers, and mental health providers. Spiral Q knows their communities to be culturally rich in tradition, heritage and strong social bonds. Their neighborhood and city-wide partners are committed collaborators and informational resources that guide our work along with their team of talented teaching artists who demonstrate high quality teaching artistry and share their creativity and experience as thought-partners.

We Are the Seeds of CultureTrust is committed to amplifying Indigenous voices through the arts. The organization was founded by a team of Indigenous women who are dedicated to honoring Native arts and cultures as a means to understanding Indigenous peoples, the history of (what is now called) the United States, and who we all are as American people today. We Are the Seeds produces cultural events that feature Indigenous fine art, music, dance, fashion, literary, and culinary art. Additionally, Seeds hosts interactive art programs that focus on educating and empowering the youth.

It goes without saying that this is a challenging time for those of dedicated to the live performing arts. At People’s Light, a professional Regional Theatre located in Malvern, PA, their hearts are missing that frisson of live connection. However, they continue to be driven by their commitment to make theatre in a larger sense.  In their mission, People’s Light identifies itself as a cultural and civic center with theatre at its core. Positioned in this way, theatre is the stuff we can create, but also a way of generating space for ongoing civic engagement and dialogue with and for our communities. So while they can’t safely produce plays in this moment, their charge to use artistry and creativity for ongoing civic and community engagement remains. In this article, they offer ways that they have continued to make theatre at People’s Light since the pandemic has taken hold.