Programs

We invite you to programs in our home at 735 S. 50th Street in West Philadelphia. Our exhibitions are open Tuesdays and Thursdays 10 AM - 6 PM or appointment.

Click here for more details and a full calendar of current programs. To be added to our mailing list email us.

Want to participate? At Cultural Exchange, our current exhibition, we ask you to "state your piece" and share your response to works in the show.

For the upcoming Goodnight Mishegas Klezmer Concert, on December 11th, we invite you to sing along with Susan Watts. Lyrics are posted here. Watch a clip on our YouTube channel.

Other On-Going PFP Programs

Technical Assistance Workshops
Hands-on workshops on community folklife documentation, and on grant-writing for grassroots artists and cultural heritage workers, aiming to get resources into our communities. Call for details: 215.726.1106

Art Happens Here
These public programs are collaborations with folk and traditional artists and grassroots community groups; they aim to sustain alternative and significant vernacular traditions. Artists introduce work in progress, or developed during residencies. If you are a Philadelphia-area community-based folk or traditional artist, let us know about your project by writing a letter (or e-mail pfp@folkloreproject.org), or attend a workshop.

Folk Arts House Programs
Intimate salons, workshops and gatherings help people share local knowledge, develop folk arts and build community.

Exhibitions
Our galleries showcase local folk and traditional arts - vernacular and alternative expression. We are open October - June on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 AM - 6 PM and by appointment. FREE (but donations appreciated). We are happy to arrange tours for groups. More information: 215.726.1106. We also loan traveling photo exhibitions on local folk art. Rental rates are modest (and free to sites serving low-income communities.) Currently available is "All that we do", a photo exhibition by James Wasserman profiling local women working in traditional art. Call us for info or visit our exhibitions page.

Folk Arts Education
Folk Arts and Multicultural Education (FAME) is our arts education program, including on-going residencies in which traditional artists work with young people at the Folk Arts - Cultural Treasures Charter School (which we helped Asian Americans United to found) and in community sites. Residency artists include masters of diverse local cultural traditions - African American, Chinese, Cambodian, Vietnamese, and Liberian dance and music. At the Folk Arts Cultural Treasures Charter School, we are also involved in developing folk arts education curricula, standards and programs. For more information about our FAME program, or to inquire about being a FAME site or artist, view our FAME page.

Home Place Project
PFP is supporting local people in documenting folk arts relating to displacement: including arts and stories of gentrification and loss of home right here, as well as war and immigration from a previous homeland. Part of our new workshop / training program, this pilot year will result in a series of exhibitions and programs.

Media & Publications
We develop documentary resources to widen the public record about local folk arts and issues. (Browse some examples here). Our long-running magazine, children's books, books and exhibition catalogs, and documentary videos and DVDs are on our list. Purchase of our publications helps support PFP efforts.

The Philadelphia Folklore Project works to sustain cultural and artistic practices rooted in the histories, traditions, and everyday lives of people in the Philadelphia area. All of our public programs aim to increase respect for, understanding of, and access to local grassroots arts and humanities. In this section, read more about current and past programs: public events, performances, residencies, workshops, exhibitions, and education efforts.