OUR CULTURE
We listen. We learn. We create. We do it again. And we do it together.
Spiral Q is rooted in principles of accessibility, inclusion, self-determination, collaboration, sustainability and life-long learning. In all of our work, we explore the stories behind the community experience and believe in the power of art to express what’s most important. We value community conversations and hands-on creation – and the deep understanding that can come from the combination of the two.
We get our hands dirty. We work with reclaimed and recycled materials and we tackle large-scale projects to show what’s possible when a group of creative and dedicated people set out to make something wonderful.
We tap into our intellectual and our creative spirits. We teach in public schools and around a table, making the connection between understanding, new ideas and hands-on making. And every time we teach, we learn something new that adds to the story. That’s why the “Q” is more than an organization. It’s a community of creative people who have this experience and activate it across issues and disciplines. We know that this learning is what brings us together as an ever-expanding community and helps us make things better in our neighborhoods.
FULL & PART-TIME STAFF
Jennifer Turnbull
Co-Director
Liza Goodell
Co-Director
Rachel O'Hanlon- Rodriguez
Operations Associate
Rob Seitz
Education Coordinator
ADVISORY BOARD
As a fiscally sponsored project of Culture Works of Philadelphia, Spiral Q is guided by an incredible advisory board of community members.
The rewards of working with the Q Advisory Board are many and include: shaping a stable future for an organization with a rich legacy, meeting great people with diverse backgrounds and interests, participating in cutting-edge creative work defined by a dedication to social change and ongoing opportunities for professional and personal development.
If you are interested in joining this dynamic group of volunteers, click here to fill out a short interest form.
Kitty Heite
Chair
Ellissa Collier
Treasurer
Lori Waselchuk
Secretary
Joanne Douglas
Laura Frazure
Nicole McDonald
Melissa McNair
Suzanna Urminska
Accra Zuberi
2022 PARTNERS & COLLABORATORS
Abortion Liberation Fund • ACT-UP Philadelphia • Action Together NEPA • Al Bustan Seeds of Culture • Alain Locke School • All Voting is Local • Bartram’s Gardens • Batala Philly • Blankenburg Elementary • Bregy Elementary • Burlington County Division of Parks • Community Control Coalition • Concilio • Deep Roots Charter School • Earth Quaker Action Team • Education Works • FreeAntPHL • Freedom Marks • Golden Sunrise N.Y.A. • Hopkinson Elementary • ICPIC/New Africa Center • Iglesias Garden • Jobs with Justice• John H. Taggart School • Just ACT • McGraw Elementary • Mount Vernon Manor CDC • National Resources Defense Council • Neighborhood Bike Works • No ARENA in Chinatown • PA Youth Vote • Paul Robeson House • People’s Emergency Center • Philadelphia Coalition for Affordable Communities • Philadelphia Freedom Band • Philadelphia Palestine Coalition • Philadelphia Rent Control Coalition • Philadelphia Treatment not Trauma Coalition • Philadelphia Workers Solidarity Network • Philadelphia Young Communist League • Philly BDS • Philly Children’s Movement • Philly Culture United • Philly Thrive • PhillyCAM • PHonk!Philly • Police Free Penn • Poor People’s Army • Powel School • Reclaim Philadelphia • Red Rabbits • Rise Choir • Riseup4abortionrights • Save the FDR Meadows • Save UC Townhomes • Shut Down Berks Coalition • Sunrise of Philadelphia • The Attic Youth Center • The Dandelion Project • The People’s Budget. • Thomas G. Morton School • Trans March Philly • UNITE HERE Local 274 • University City Arts League • Vaudevillains NYB • West Philadelphia Promise Neighborhood • West Powelton Drum Squad and Steppers • Workers World Party • Workers’ Voice • Youth Volunteer Corps of Greater Philadelphia • Zumbi Soweto
TESTIMONIALS
To read more, or contribute your own, visit our Tumblr at www.myspiralq.tumblr.com.
VISIBILITY
“Spiral Q has been an amazing resource, community partner, and safe space for me in my work as a transgender/gender non-conforming activist. Prior to showing up at Spiral Q for the first time, I had not been in a studio for years. I immediately felt really empowered and welcome to use my rusty creative skill set to collaborate on banners and signs which were proudly carried by R.A.G.E. members (Riders Against Gender Exclusion) and Philly Trans* Marchers during direct actions, the Philly Trans* March, and Peoplehood.
Many folks who identify as I do, as queer, trans, brown, female-bodied, small, LMI, often face a lot of (systematic) oppression and invisibility. It feels good to be in the Spiral Q community of artists, figure-outers, speak-uppers, justice-seekers, ruckus-makers, attention-getters, cardboard-manipulators, and identity-expressers where who we are and what we are experiencing become magnified and vibrantly visible. My Spiral Q stands for VISIBILITY.”
-Ovid
HEART
“Spiral Q, to me, stands for LEADING WITH THE HEART. So many of the folks I got to work with through the Q have, like most of us, been told too many times that their dreams aren’t worthwhile, aren’t practical, not monetizable. That their communities and we’re/their values are value-less, and therefor not worthy of investment.
So we start to rearrange our thinking and submit our dreams to what is “practical,” “valuable,” “worthwhile.” The Q is that spiral we need to shake up our thinking and our souls, to re-imagine value and, in the process, renegotiate what might actually be possible. Anything is possible when you lead with the heart – I learned that at Spiral Q and alongside the dozens of communities we impacted while I was there.”
-Anna
MAGNIFY
“My Spiral Q stands for MAGNIFY. I remember Spiral Q from when I was a teen coming out in Philadelphia through the Attic Youth Center. The Q helped us make large puppets so we could be seen as we marched through Center City to Take Back the Night. Years later Spiral Q was there when the city tried to close down 11 of our libraries and my students wanted to protest. It’s not that Spiral Q gave us a voice. We have our own voices. But Spiral Q magnified our voices, like a megaphone for social justice. It’s easy for people to ignore teens, children, and everyday citizens. The Q gave us tools so that our voices could be heard, paid attention to, and remembered.”
-Katrina