2025 Velocity Fund Grantees

Image Description: Two photographs side by side. On the left, a person with short gray hair walking through a doorway, wearing a black uniform emblazoned with yellow Vietnamese text. On the right, a person with black long hair pulled into a ponytail, wearing a gray longsleeve uniform, holding a conical hat in right hand, and walking on a dirt path toward palm trees.

Âm Dương — Balance and Healing in Traditional Vietnamese Medicine

Chấn Đạt Phan, Chấn Tọn Phan, Megan Nguyễn, Yunhao Zhang

This 40-minute documentary journeys through Vietnam with two captivating practitioners of Traditional Vietnamese Medicine (TVM) as they share the philosophy and practice of this healing art. Speaking to Philadelphia’s diasporic Vietnamese community, many growing up distanced from our homeland’s cultural practices, it bridges past and present through thought-provoking interviews, vibrant electronic soundscapes, and lively animation. This film invites young Vietnamese in Philadelphia and beyond to reconnect with our homeland’s healing traditions in a fresh, immersive way.

ID: A portrait painting of a smiling person with yellow glasses, a black cap with a chain, red collared sleeveless shirt, and tattooed arms.

Dead Dykes & Some Gay Men

Arleen Olshan

“Dead Dykes and Some Gay Men” is a celebration of the lives of Philadelphia (primarily) LGBTQA+ activists, artists, and everyday individuals, now deceased, who personally touched my life. I will be painting and drawing approximately 20–30 women and men, exhibiting their biographies, obituaries, and accomplishments. I will also lead artist talks that will speak to their contributions, as ancestors, to our LGBTQ+ history.

ID: Overhead black-and-white shot of two rows of people walking, mid-protest. Two figures at the center, facing in opposite directions, each hold a bullhorn.

Eds and Meds (working title)

Laurie Robins, Evan Kassof

Eds and Meds (working title) is a photographic research project that will use text and image to document the diverse range of unionized jobs within the higher education and healthcare sector of Philadelphia. The project will be first exhibited in the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO building (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations).

ID: Two rows of bundled garlic, from bulbs to greens, lying on a wood surface, lit by sunshine.

GARLIC BREATH

Ro Adler

“Garlic Breath” is an experiment in land magic and community printmaking. Over the course of 7 months, a pop-up collective of 15–20 residents of Southwest Philly will harvest, plant and eat garlic together at community garden Farm 51. They will co-create planting and harvest rituals and make art together. Garlic will be the entry into shared artmaking about ancestral knowledge, climate resilience, and relationship to place.

ID: Two photo essays above and below a window, through which large wall text can be seen in white, on black wall paint: “WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE SAFE?”

“Not Safe” for Teens (NSFT) Art Initiative

Lorraine Ustaris, Rosie Smith, Magdalena Johnson, Clarissa Lanzas

“Not Safe” for Teens is a Philly-based art initiative for teens by teens. Our mission is to create safe spaces for teen artists to make and share art representative of their uncensored ideas, stories, dreams, and beliefs — including those that some deem “not safe” for youth to express or explore. Our first show opened this June at iMPeRFeCT Gallery. This grant funds our second, bolder exhibition closer to Center City and other events prompting the public to learn from teen art.

ID: A person with dark hair in a close fade and yellow plaid shirt looks down upon a large pink, yellow, and blue embroidery on light green fabric.

Social Fabric: Stitching Legacy

Richie Lopez

Social Fabric: Stitching Legacy is a community embroidery project created in response to the Semiquincentennial in Philadelphia, countering the founding fathers myth. Participants will stitch their hopes for the future, contributing to a large-scale tapestry representing diverse voices and legacies for the next 250 years. Through learning basic stitches and engaging in conversations, participants will connect with the city’s collective aspirations. The finished piece will be displayed publicly, inviting reflection and dialogue about the legacy we leave behind.

ID: Two rainbows arc over a grassy plot with two rows of red and white planters.

 

Like Flowers Blooming from a Deep Tower of Vines, We Rise with the Sun.

Tyler Kline

Community gardens in the heart of Kensington are helping to revitalize and transform the neighborhood. The Krimson Garden at Frankford and Tusculum is one such location. Rebooted and revamped in the Spring of 2024, the garden will continue its community transformation by extending the native species pollinator meadow and constructing a pavilion for community meeting, performance, and contemplation. The Velocity Fund would greatly make it possible for this plan to come to fruition.

ID: Wearing a black leather jacket and hat, Larnell Baldwin gazes at the camera, a brightly lit fabric store out of focus behind him.

Taking in the Tailors

Larnell Baldwin, Ty Burdenski, Quinha Faria, Aidan Un, Catching on Thieves

While helping master tailor Larnell Baldwin at his storefront in Philadelphia’s Fabric Row, an aspiring designer overhears stories from a disappearing generation of master tailors. Taking in the Tailors is a 16mm film record of the sounds, textures and stories of a skilled generation of designers and tailors who no longer live in a world with apprentices.

ID: A row of people standing ahead of a table with white papers illustrated with red and black pomegranates, Arabic and English text.

Penpals for Palestine Club (working title)

Michelle Harris, Kim Altomare

Penpals for Palestine Club is an exquisite corpse style mail art collaboration between the children of Jericho and the children of Philadelphia, facilitated by Philadelphia-based artists Michelle Anne Harris and Kim Altomare in collaboration with a Jericho-based artist. Harris and Altomare will facilitate community workshops throughout Philadelphia to create handmade books and paper mail art that will be sent back and forth for response at community events in Jericho.

ID: Photo collage with marker drawings of various figures with eyes and striped bodies, and text reading: “YOU ARE LOVED” and “YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL” alongside photos of mosaic walls, and a person with orange hair and black sleeveless shirt using mobility devices. At the center, a bag slung on a walker reads: “Ableism Isn’t Punk”

Adorning Movement: Creating a visual language around museum access (working title)

Ray Lapinski, David Gerbstadt

Artists creating unique usable sculptural works to serve as mobility aids in museums and galleries.

ID: A grid of twenty still images, varying in illustration style. Some are abstract and colorful, others more painterly. Some use shadow play or paper craft. Each image is labeled with a number in the bottom right corner.

Philadelphia Animation Festival

Amy Lee Ketchum, Ava Haitz, Meaghan Dunn

We intend to host a three-day film festival showcasing the creativity of the animation artists of Philadelphia. Programming will spotlight independent animation with both a regional and international focus. One event will focus specifically on collaborations and works from the Philadelphia area. There will be workshops for both adults and families, animation art exhibitions, and screenings of local and international animators.

ID: Two people, one standing, one sitting, mid-performance in a backyard lit with purple string lights. The seated person, wearing a striped shirt and black-rimmed glasses, gazes up at the standing person, dressed in all black, holding their hands out, palms up.

Rhythm Knows No Cage

Rachel K. Godfrey

Rhythm Knows No Cage amplifies abolitionist voices in Philadelphia through public creative events exploring liberation, resilience, and collective storytelling. Using the theme of rhythm as a tool for connection, expression, and imagining how we “get free,” the series will include teach-ins on abolitionist principles, songwriting workshops, a somatic movement offering, and a final exhibition. Centering the work of abolitionists both within and beyond the confines of incarceration, this program harnesses rhythmic art forms to build community, solidarity, and collective bravery.