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Chester Cultural Corridor Initiative

Pennsylvania Humanities Council
The Deshong Museum. Photo courtesy of the Pennsylvania Humanities Council.
The Deshong Museum. Photo courtesy of the Pennsylvania Humanities Council.
Historical postcard image of Deshong Museum. Photo courtesy of the Pennsylvania Humanities Council.
Historical postcard image of Deshong Museum. Photo courtesy of the Pennsylvania Humanities Council.
Deshong Commemoration Day, with a stilt walker from the African Masquerade Society of Philadelphia leading the Mayor and the people of Chester in a symbolic cultural walk to clear the path for spiritual restoration in the park. Photo courtesy of the Pennsylvania Humanities Council.
Deshong Commemoration Day, with a stilt walker from the African Masquerade Society of Philadelphia leading the Mayor and the people of Chester in a symbolic cultural walk to clear the path for spiritual restoration in the park. Photo courtesy of the Pennsylvania Humanities Council.
The Deshong Museum. Photo courtesy of the Pennsylvania Humanities Council.
The Deshong Museum. Photo courtesy of the Pennsylvania Humanities Council.

This project takes a novel approach to city planning, using theater and the arts to inform an eventual plan of action to revitalize Chester's historic Deshong Park. Community arts practitioners will be trained in grassroots storytelling and theater techniques, and they will ask local business owners, seniors, youth, artists, and Widener University students to enact their creative visions for the future of their waterfront city. The overarching goal will be to include and hear from local community members who rarely attend public meetings or participate in traditional methods of data collection, in an effort to rebuild an overall positive community identity, and to create conditions for social change and economic development.


*Additional unrestricted funds are added to each grant for general operating support.*
Primary EventsEvents & Exhibitions
Artist-led story circles held by the Chester Cultural Corridor team created this downtown asset map of arts, culture and creative expression. Photo by Paul Fritz, Consulting City Planner.

C3 Initiative: "Chester Made" Story Corners

Feb 5–25, 2015
CHESTER, Pennsylvania

Artist-led story circles held by the Chester Cultural Corridor team created this downtown asset map of arts, culture and creative expression. Photo by Paul Fritz, Consulting City Planner.

Chester Cultural Corridor Initiative: Preview of "Putting Chester Arts and Culture on the Map" Performance and Presentation

Jun 15, 2015
Open Mike's Cafe, 512 Avenue of the States, Chester, PA 19013

Artist-led story circles held by the Chester Cultural Corridor team created this downtown asset map of arts, culture and creative expression. Photo by Paul Fritz, Consulting City Planner.

Chester Cultural Corridor Initiative: Presentation of Chester Arts and Culture Map at City Hall

Jul 22, 2015
1 East 4th Street, Chester, PA

uestions of ractice
Reclaim. Rebuild. Repurpose. workshop, part of the Pennsylvania Humanities Council’s Chester Made Cultural Exploration Zone. Photo by Mark Garvin.
Interview

Inside Pennsylvania Humanities Council: Q&A with Executive Director Laurie Zierer

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Recipient
Pennsylvania Humanities Council

Pennsylvania Humanities Council

Founded in 1973, the Pennsylvania Humanities Council (PHC) is a private, nonprofit, nongovernmental organization dedicated to providing every Pennsylvanian with access to the humanities. PHC works from the belief that the humanities empower citizens to think critically, grow, and engage in their communities. The council's projects include a speakers' bureau on humanities topics, media projects, book discussion groups, and other initiatives that support the work of organizations across the commonwealth, through small grants for public humanities projects. PHC's work is increasingly focused on using the humanities as a catalyst for social change. 

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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