QOP Library

Cai Guo-Qiang: Fireflies, 2017. Photo by Jeff Fusco, courtesy of Association for Public Art.

Artist Cai Guo-Qiang on Public Art and Ephemerality

Artist Cai Guo-Qiang describes how he considers the idea of ephemerality in the context of his temporary public art projects.

Surgical Clinic and Health Center, Léo, Burkina Faso, 2014, designed by Francis Kéré. Photograph courtesy of Kéré Architecture.

Questions of Practice: Francis Kéré on Creating Architecture that “Serves Humanity”

Francis Kéré on why the purpose of architecture is to “serve humanity.

Radio Silence, by Michael Rakowitz and Mural Arts Philadelphia. Photo by Steve Weinik, courtesy of Mural Arts Philadelphia.

Questions of Practice: Artist Michael Rakowitz on Threading Disparate Sources into a Cohesive Whole

Michael Rakowitz describes the process behind creating a performance and radio project involving American veterans and the Iraqi refugee community.

Urban Space Jockeys by Amber Art & Design. Photo by Paul Gargagliano of Hazel Photo, Courtesy of Daniel Tucker.

Grantee Spotlight: Q&A with Curator Daniel Tucker

Daniel Tucker's Center-funded exhibition and event series Organize Your Own: The Politics and Poetics of Self-Determination Movements explores historical and contemporary questions of equity, justice, and race relations.

Walking with Trane, Urban Bush Women. Photo by Gennia Cui.

Questions of Practice: Choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar on Art and Social Justice

Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, founding director of Urban Bush Women, on why "wanting profound social change and being an artist [are] not contradictory or binary places."

Will Steacy and Layla Perea photographed each other in November, 2015, for the Philly Block Project. Steacy is one of the collaborating artists for the Philly Block Project and Perea is a South Kensington resident. Photo by Jordan Baumgarten/Philly Block Project, 2015.

Questions of Practice: Artist Hank Willis Thomas on Photography and Framing

Artist Hank Willis Thomas discusses seeing the world "through a photographic mindset."

Choreographer Faustin Linyekula, re-PLACE-ing Philadelphia, Painted Bride Arts Center. Photo by Jen Cleary.

Questions of Practice: Choreographer Faustin Linyekula on Creating Accessible Art

Congolese choreographer Faustin Linyekula discusses why he is "constantly trying to find ways of being in dialogue with the city."

Kwasi Ohene-Ayeh, Six and Fours, Prison Anxieties, interactive, public installation created for the 2013 Chale Wote Street Arts Festival in Jamestown, Accra. Courtesy of the artist.

Questions of Practice: The Village of Arts and Humanities' Aviva Kapust on Local Messages with Global Impact

Aviva Kapust on global messages that originate in the local environment.

Mifflin Square Alliance Festival in September 2015, part of Mural Art Program’s Playgrounds for Useful Knowledge. Photo by Steve Weinik.

Questions of Practice: Cohabitation Strategies on Authorship and Community Engagement

Cohabitation Strategies on the concept of authorship when developing collaborative projects with communities that are not their own.

Playgrounds for Useful Knowledge Neighborhood Convening, June 29, 2015. 632 Jackson Street. Photo by Steve Weinik. Courtesy of the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program.

Questions of Practice: Cohabitation Strategies on the Role of the Arts in Fostering Social Change

Cohabitation Strategies' Miguel Robles-Durán and Lucia Babina discuss how their community-based projects promote dialogue and social change.

Social & Civic Practice