a constellation of arts events—

celebrating and uniting people-and purpose-in West Philadelphia
& Chinatown.

Local context

TWO deeply rooted philadelphia communities affected by urban development.

People displaced from their homes, small businesses moving out: this project focuses on cultural preservation, community visibility and voice, and a search for solidarity.

Finding commonality & sharing difference

This project aims to cross geographic & cultural barriers

Philadelphia is, proudly, a City of Neighborhoods, but this identity has a flipside: it is the result of a segregated history of redlining and other racist practices. There is a wealth of cultural knowledge and history here, passed down through generations, but that transmission often stops at the end of the block.

We hope to bridge the lingering gap between neighbors through art-making and conversation—ultimately, inviting them to imagine a joint future and the work it might take to reach it together.

Detail of Black Bottom Mosaic Mural at the former UC High site, 1999 by Andrea Zemel.

Student-community protests against campus expansion around Drexel, 1970.

shared histories of

struggle & resilience

West Philadelphia and Chinatown are facing rapid development. Local activists in both communities have been working for generations to address the effects of gentrification. Despite many parallels,
the two neighborhoods are not often in conversation.

Neighbors disrupt the demolition of Chinatown homes during Vine Street Expressway development, 1973.

Front page excerpt from the Yellow Seeds bilingual Chinese-English community newspaper, 1973.

University City Urban Renewal Area Unit 3, Land Use Map, 1964

During the two-years of Crossing Streets, we hope to build relationships across difference, imagining together a more equitable, holistic model for community development–one that honors history as it moves forward.

Map of Vine Street Expressway development showing how Chinatown was being fenced in by city planning, 1973.

Bilingual flyer advertising a rally and town meeting to protest the Vine Street Expressway development, 1973 from Rev. Dr. Yam Tong Hoh Papers.

check out our upcoming events.

check out our upcoming events. check out our upcoming events.

Second Tuesday: At the Corner

May 12, 4:30-6pm
Dornsife Center (3509 Spring Garden Street)
How are our stories intertwined? Writers Room Teaching Artist Kiki Kaschock will introduce the Crossing Streets project by looking back at the impact of Philadelphia’s Urban Renewal policies on West Philadelphia and Chinatown in the 1960-70s. Free community dinner to follow.
Crossing Streets & Writing to Missing Hearts

May 19, 5:30-7pm at the Independence Library Branch (18 S. 7th Street)
In collaboration with the Free Library of Philadelphia and Asian Americans United, this writing workshop led by Carol Richardson McCullough will connect Celeste Ng’s Our Missing Hearts to our current political reality by writing letters to neighbors in federal immigration detention centers.
Sharing Stories: Black-Asian Solidarity in Philly

May 26, 6-7:30pm
Asian Arts Initiative (1219 Vine Street)
Join us for a storytelling workshop grounded in the shared histories of struggles and resilience in Chinatown and West Philadelphia. Inspired by Asian Arts Initiative’s No Arena: Making a Movement exhibition, this workshop will illustrate the power of solidarity to build the future of our neighborhoods.