Pew Center for Arts and Heritage

Get our monthly newsletter in your inbox for the latest on cultural events, ideas, conversations, and grantmaking news in Philadelphia and beyond.

Main page contents

Planning for Fighting for Democracy

National Constitution Center
Fighting for Democracy rehearsal. Photo courtesy of the National Constitution Center.
Fighting for Democracy rehearsal. Photo courtesy of the National Constitution Center.

The National Constitution Center worked with theater artists, historians, and community advisory groups to plan a new hybrid performance/exhibition experience. The project was developed in conjunction with Fighting for Democracy, a traveling exhibition which tells the stories of seven individuals from varied backgrounds and their experiences during World War II. The team investigated the use of live performance, multimedia installation, and direct audience involvement, in order to ask visitors to consider the ideals of equality, and changing definitions of who is included in these ideals. The project aimed explicitly to connect these stories and themes to contemporary issues of discrimination and civil liberties.

Recipient
National Constitution Center

National Constitution Center

The National Constitution Center (NCC) is the only nonprofit, nonpartisan institution devoted to the United States Constitution. The NCC offers exhibitions, education programs, and theatrical productions, and acts as a hub for dialogue on constitutional issues. 

More info
Explore Connections
Larry W. Cook, Untitled.
National Media Spotlight on Philadelphia’s Cultural Scene
Nels Cline in performance at Royce Hall, Los Angeles. Photo by Phinn Sriployrung.

Guitarist Nels Cline on Musical Lineage
Video Tradition & Translation
Walking with Trane, Urban Bush Women. Photo by Gennia Cui.
Questions of Practice: Choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar on Art and Social Justice
Video Social & Community-Based Practices
Sonia Sanchez. Photo by Erika Vonie.
Celebrating Poet Sonia Sanchez, plus Pew Fellows Earn Guggenheim Fellowships, Peabody Award, and More
Pew Fellows Candice Iloh and Armando Veve. Photos by Neal Santos.

Fellow to Fellow: Candice Iloh and Armando Veve Find Inspiration in Each Other’s Mediums
Interview Cross-Disciplinary Practices
Enrique Bostelmann, Portrait of Cora Flores, 1980, part of Mirages series.

Projects in Process: Discoveries in the Archives with Berman Museum and Japan America Society
Essay Legacy & Archives
Yolanda Wisher, 2022 Philadelphia's Cultural Treasures fellow and 2015 Pew Fellow. Photo by Mark Palacio.
Four Philadelphia’s Cultural Treasures Fellows on Care and Community Impact
EgoPo Classic Theater, rehearsal for Ramayana with Papermoon Puppet Theatre and Kalanari Theatre Movement, 2023, Java, Indonesia. Photo courtesy of EgoPo. 

Projects in Process: Wilma Theater and EgoPo on Creative Collaborations
Essay Co-Authorship & Collaboration