About This Event:
“Today We Are Possible” Photo Exhibit Opening Reception
January 31, 2024 | 5:30 - 7:30 PM EST | In Person Event
Heim Center for Cultural and Civic Engagement (Parkway Central Library, 1901 Vine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103)
Event Details
Join us to celebrate the opening of "Today We Are Possible," a photography exhibition produced by WOMEN’S WAY on view at the Free Library of Philadelphia from January 31st to April 30th, 2024. Digital photography by Gregory Wright renders vibrant, intimate portraits of abundance and struggle, as told by six Philadelphia women. Their stories unfurl notions of wealth, expounding its ties to health, community, love, and belonging. During the kick-off event, you’ll have the opportunity to immerse yourself in the powerful visual narratives of Faith, Ingrid, Ivy, Taina, Tamara, and Tracey, and hear from them during a moderated panel discussion.
This is a free, in person event with accessibility features. Panel discussion begins at 6 pm. Light refreshments will be available!
This event is cohosted by WOMEN'S WAY, The Free Library of Philadelphia, and Mayor's Office of Engagement for Women.
About The Exhibit
In 2023, WOMEN'S WAY conducted a comprehensive, mixed-methods research initiative to understand the key drivers of wealth inequality for women in Philadelphia. We surveyed and interviewed 400 Philadelphia-based women from all walks of life about what wealth looked like for them, their aspirations, realities, and challenges with wealth building on an individual, familial, and community level. "Today We Are Possible" features the wealth experiences of Ivy, Faith, Ingrid, Tracey, Tamara, and Taina, six women who participated in qualitative interviews.
After careful analysis, our research team categorized the findings into five dimensions of wealth experience: 1) Stability and Opportunity, 2) Freedom, Joy, and Belonging, 3) Health and Healing, 4) Family and Community Care, 5) Love, Resource, and Community Support. Today We Are Possible” grounds these themes in the real-life experiences of the six featured women, captured by Gregory Wright.
Parsed into mini collections for each dimension, the portraiture in "Today We Are Possible" contextualizes the dimensions in the microcosm of the six featured women, as well as the decades-long tradition of Black feminist thought. As the viewer walks through each dimension, they are first met with writing from great thinkers such as Octavia Butler, Gwendolyn Brooks, Toni Morrison, Mari Evans, and Alice Walker. Their revolutionary words invoke an intersectional lens to view the portraits, which are paired with excerpts from the subjects’ oral interviews.
Together, the written, visual, and oral traditions in “Today We Are Possible” equip us to contend with multiple structures of power, and orient us to a gender justice that works in tandem with racial justice, disability justice, economic justice, and so on. The voices of the subjects join their Black feminist foremothers’ song, calling us to collectively reimagine Abundance, rooted in liberation.
