Member Spotlight
What happened:
On September 2nd rains from hurricane Ida flooded (7′ high!) Spiral Q’s temporary storage space destroying 80% of everything there. After 9 months of moving out of our old warehouse on Haverford Ave (while simultaneously running programs with youth, activist and neighborhood partners), we were so excited to buckle down and find our forever home. The garages held the majority (thankfully not all) of Spiral Q’s collection of over 2,000 pieces that stood as a living document of 25 years of personal and collective stories of struggle, identity, and justice in Philadelphia. In addition to this, the garages held much office and studio equipment, materials, historic program files, photographs and videos.
The bad news:
We lost a lot… an estimated:
- 80-85% of our puppet & art collection
- 50% of our historic program files
- Studio equipment & art materials
- Office Equipment including computers, desks, and storage
The good news
- The situation is stabilized and we’ve removed all water & mud
- We still have some beloved puppets and banners
- We rescued 95% of our undigitized photos
- We rescued 95% of our videos
- Over 40 heroic volunteers (so far) have jumped into the action to help!
- 268 incredible people have donated to our fundraiser!
- Spiral Q has temporary studio space and a promising lead to temporary storage space
How you can help:
1: Spread the Word
- Tell people this happened
- Keep an eye on our social media
- Share our fundraiser
- Contribute to our fundraiser
- Repost our future volunteer call
2: Volunteer some time
- Moving shelving, puppets, & materials back to Philly
- Digitally scanning photos & slides
- Transferring archival videos (VHS, Hi8, & DV tapes) to digital
- Get involved in supporting Peoplehood!
3: Join in Peoplehood
Saturday November 6th – 1pm
- Sign up your activist, community, or youth group to represent in the parade
- Volunteer to flyer your neighborhood
- Safety marshal the parade
- Join in art builds at our studio
- For more info, contact us at community@spiralq.org
4: Share your Story
Help us keep the stories behind the puppets alive.
Each piece of Spiral Q’s collection holds the stories of so many communities and individuals. Stories of creation and collaboration in art studios, parks, classrooms and recovery centers. Stories of activist strategy and neighborhood cultural expression. Stories of wearing giant puppets in protests or experiencing a parade come down the block you live on.
Help us begin the deep process of honoring and lifting that which has authentically and fiercely represented, advocated for, celebrated and centered our most resilient and powerful communities disenfranchised by capitalism and white supremacy. Let us collectively mourn and eulogize this loss by replacing it with the joy and power of why the puppet existed in the first place, for the people.
Tell us your story of impact. What is the most important and powerful Spiral Q story you have to tell, tell us about the art, the people and the magic you experienced. Tell us online (@spiralq), in person, via email (community@spiralq.org), a voice recording a video and of course if you have an image from the past please share.
