Just Act

12/10/2025

So thrilled to be part of the People's Budget Office Working Group and collaborating with an incredible group of people on co-creating "Rehearsing Equitable Public Budgeting." Today we will be prototyping the hearing to best prepare for the actual hearing in City Council next January !

Join the People's Budget Office as we prepare and test methods for a hearing on equitable public budgeting practices on December 10, from 4–6 PM at City…

11/03/2025

01/08/2025

On December 14, "Art Forward: Engaging NW Neighbors" had our first event at Allens Lane Art Center Winter Fair. Art Forward is the most current iteration of my model for resident-driven, arts and community-based engagement--this time, I'm customizing the process for Allens Lane Art Center. It will be an 18 month long, community-based participatory planning process, led by Allens Lane Art Center with Mt Airy CDC and Art Forward's Community Action Team (aka the CAT) comprised of neighbors from Germantown and Mt Airy who are visual arts and musicians, as well as creative business entrepreneurs. Art Forward will engage NW Philadelphia neighbors to co-create a culturally and community-responsive, equitable vision for local art, art education and cultural programming in NW Philly. Attendees of all ages filled out responses to the questions: "What is Art?," "What does Art Mean to Me" and "Who is an Artist?" DM me if you want to learn more! And stay tuned for many events to come!

09/12/2024

"Ballot Boxing/Boxeando el Voto"--the latest iteration of my Forum Theatre program "Just Act, Go Vote"-- went up last night at Taller Puertorriqueno, and it was a hit with the audience! "Ballot Boxing/Boxeando el Voto" was a bilingual, multi-generational, non-partisan, innovative and engaging Forum Theatre play about the real reasons why people don't vote, created by members of HACE CDC's and APM’s Neighborhood Advisory Sub-Committees. "Ballot Boxing/Boxeando el Voto" tells the story of the underdog "Rocky"--aka Rock the Voter-- who faces off with his Fairhill neighbors who are resistant to his efforts to convince them to vote. Over the course of 3 “Rounds,” Rocky continues to get knocked down by neighbors "Nope," "Mad Mom" and "Dunno"--as in "Are you going to vote? I dunno."-- and is unsuccessful in changing their mindsets. The 'ring' was then opened to audience members of all ages called Spect-Actors who jumped in for Rocky and rehearsing new ways to engage non-voting neighbors.




Taller Puertorriqueño
HACE CDC
Asociación Puertorriqueños en Marcha - APM







City Commissioner Lisa Deeley

06/06/2024

Philly friends: Do any of you have a connection at the Phila Zoo in terms of acquiring art? It was suggested to me that I reach out to someone there in regards to a beautiful sculpture of a goat that my daughter made and which is currently trapped in the courtyard at UArts' Hamilton Hall. Pls contact me asap if you do as we only have until tomorrow afternoon before the shut down!

05/23/2024

Prior to the August release of my article "Democracy is in the Making: Just Act's Model for Rehumanizing Community Engagement" in the book "Democracy as Creative Practice," edited by Tom Borrup and Andrew Zitcer, I'm going to share key elements about my work because I just can't wait to share! Here's my intro:

"The invitation to contribute an article about my model for resident-driven, arts and community-based engagement in planning and development led me to critically reflect on my social practice art and how I’ve learned through lived experience that democracy is in the making. Imagining democracy, like imagining utopia, can cease to be a product to be procured, but a direction to pursue through purposeful practice that will take "us to another place" (Duncombe and Lambert, 2021) where pernicious patterns of an oppressive democracy built on racial capitalist othering no longer reign. The predominant conception of democracy can never be the endpoint or solution to our current social and political morass because systems of domination and racism that we have propagated under the guise of democracy have led us to the trenchantly unjust world we now inhabit. I proffer the idea of democracy as an experiential creative process of awareness and culture-building that we, as a multiracial populace, can choose to practice in order to collectively rebuild our community, not the community. When we consider democracy as an ever-evolving, embodied practice, then wonder, care, and curiosity about why, what was and is, and what's emerging are welcomed into the room as our teachers and guides for decision-making.

02/16/2024

I'm super excited to share that my article, "Democracy is in the Making: Just Act's Model for Rehumanizing Community Engagement" will be one of 16 chapters in "Democracy as Creative Practice: Weaving a Culture of Civic Life," edited by Tom Borrup and Andrew Zitcer, long-time champions and observers of community-based creative and cultural practices. Given that I have never written about the past 33 years of working as a social practice applied theatre artist and facilitator, I decided that I would post excerpts from my article as a kind of sneak peek, testing the waters so to speak for a blog. Here's how Tom and Andrew describe my article in their abstract:

"In this chapter, the author reflects on her journey leading Just Act, an applied theatre, arts and story-based catalyst for healing, change and activism to build a just world. Inherent in Just Act’s work is a critique of community engagement as traditionally practiced in urban planning and public policy. Community engagement, by emphasizing inclusion without belonging, without a commitment to social justice, views residents as beneficiaries rather than active leaders and deciders. By contrast, Just Act orients its work from an arts-and justice-informed paradigm. This chapter chronicles the author's innovative work planning with community residents for the renovation of a youth and senior recreation center in Philadelphia, PA. Throughout, the chapter meditates on democracy as an evolving, embodied process, rather than an end goal."

01/14/2024

On MLK Day, I'm looking forward to a return engagement at Gwynedd Mercy University with my longtime friend and colleague Tatiana Diaz. This time I will be facilitating "Practice for Mercy and Justice," an applied theatre workshop for students at a day long Weaving Equity Retreat!

10/25/2023

Come out and enjoy the festivities with our valued community partner, PA Youth Vote.

We're thrilled to have one of the youngest members of our team share her thoughts on the significance of .

We encourage you to come out to PA Youth Vote's event and listen to inspiring words from Logan, one of our Community Hero's Jr Coordinators and a future voter, as she passionately discusses the critical importance of voting. Your presence would mean a lot to us!

Together, let's empower the !

See you there!