A Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance indicates the federal freeze has led to severe financial challenges for area arts organizations. by Rosa Cartagena First Person Arts, the local nonprofit dedicated to live storytelling and community building, has canceled the entire season of its marquee StorySlam events, which had been scheduled to run through June. “Sadly, due […]
Subject: FPA StorySlams paused until further notice; please allow me to explain… These are uncertain times. Now, more than ever, we need more stories, more connections, and more community. Which makes this next sentence hard to write. I am writing to tell you that we have made the difficult decision to pause our Story Slams […]
Author: Jean Burke-Spraker, Director of Marketing and Communications Whether you’ve appeared on our stage, attended one of our events, or become an annual donor, you’re the hero in our First Person Arts story. From our legendary StorySlams to our new StoryGym workshops to our ongoing powerful TRIGGER VIP program for schools, First Person Arts offers more […]
By: Vanessa Taylor, Impact Producer For many in the US, gun violence has become just another part of daily life. As Nicole Cavaliere, Vice-Chair of Graduate Programs at the Jefferson College of Nursing, told me, “We’re sometimes numb to gun violence because we see it on the news every day. You see mass shootings every […]
By: Michaela Prell Project Manager and Archivist This month’s story slam theme is “Faking it.” It’s one we’ve done before, and it’s a great theme to bring back because it feels like everyone has a story about a time they had to fake it–whatever “it” is. I graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in May 2020 […]
by Jean Burke-Spraker, Director of Marketing Out of the darkness It’s 3am on a sultry Sunday morning in West Philly. I sit in a parking lot scarfing down a turkey sandwich and a bright blue energy drink. Artificial light floods the usually pitch-black lot. Thousands of people from all over Philly and throughout the US […]
by Jean Burke-Spraker, Director of Marketing February 12, 2024 Last Thursday, First Person Arts’ Director of Applied Storytelling Dr. Neil Bardhan had a chance to chat with Adam Teterus, Indy Hall’s Community Director, about all things storytelling including our upcoming Ex Files StorySlam at Underground Arts. The weekly podcast is about the interconnectedness of idiosyncrasies and […]
by Jean Burke-Spraker, Director of Marketing February 8, 2024 To celebrate Black History Month, our friends at Risk! created a wonderful story compilation called Best of Black Lives #7 featuring our very own Executive Director, Jamie J. Brunson. Jamie is featured alongside songs by Burna Boy, The Weeknd, and Janelle Monae and stories by Shon Kennedy, Jeff […]
by Michaela Althouse, PhillyVoice Staff February 8, 2024 Neil Bardhan and Kelsey Stewart, a married couple who met at a StorySlam in 2014, will host the event. “Almost everybody has the shared experience of having been in a relationship of some sort, but we all have unique takes on that,” said Bardhan, the director of […]
by Hec, Wooder Ice January 30, 2024 There are plenty of cutesy Valentine’s Day events but have you ever been to an anti-Valentine’s Day? Well the local non profit First Person Arts, has curated just that and on Wednesday, February 14th (Valentine’s Day) they will be hosting the 14th Annual EX-FILES at Underground Arts (1200 […]