Spiral Q

02/18/2026

Please sign and share this petition
Spiral Q’s neighborhood public school and longest standing school partner (12 years strong ❤️), Blankenburg Elementary, is slated to close after next school year per the School District’s Facilities plan. Blankenburg is the last public school in the neighborhood and a vital and beloved institution in the community; a crucial hub that unites families, educators and neighbors.
We are calling on our extended Spiral Q community to spread the word and support Blankenburg and all public schools at risk of closure. ❤️

Keep Our Kids Close: Stop the Closure of Blankenburg Elementary

02/16/2026

Call to action - Spiral Q’s neighborhood public school and longest standing school partner (12 years strong ❤️), , is slated to close after next school year per the School District’s Facilities plan. Blankenburg is the last public school in the neighborhood and a vital and beloved institution in the community; a crucial hub that unites families, educators and neighbors.

We are calling on our extended Spiral Q community to spread the word and support Blankenburg and all public schools at risk of closure.

Ways to support (see slides and links in our bio):
✅Sign and share the the “Keep our Kids Close: Stop the Closure of Blankenburg Elementary” petition.
https://www.change.org/p/keep-our-kids-close-stop-the-closure-of-blankenburg-elementary

✅Leave feedback on the facilities planning process in this school district form
PZ1N49D8K4GLT@WY3F6G4LT@DY2K6Y6LT" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://www.k12insight.com/Lets-Talk/Dialogue.aspx?k=PZ1N49D8K4GLT@WY3F6G4LT@DY2K6Y6LT

✅Attend the City Council hearing on School Facilities on Tuesday Feb 17th at 10 at City Hall, Room 400.

✅Attend the Facilities Planning Update virtual meeting on Feb 22nd at 2pm - https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/D-9_wxcXQ4eBZDZuBmOoWg #/registration

✅Follow on for ongoing calls to action in supporting affected schools.

Videos from 2024’s 9th annual Blankenburg Parade

02/13/2026

We’ve got lots cooking in the upcoming months including staff additions, our 12th year of SPARQ in Schools at Blankenburg Elementary, and a constantly growing lineup of art builds with our community and activist partners. And with that we are looking for some particular recyclables and used items,

If you have any of these items (or something else you think we might need) reach out to Asa at [email protected] to let us know and coordinate a drop off at our West Philly warehouse (drop off hours typically Mon, Tues, Weds, and Fri 10-6pm.

Corrugated plastic sheets (like we buy houses or larger)
Camping tent poles
Small desk
Office phone system
Office chairs
Folding lawn/camp chairs
Extra large shirts for smocks

01/22/2026

Peoplehood partner profile: Korea Peace Committee Philadelphia is a group of activists committed to the end of the Korean War, the demilitarization of the Korean Peninsula, the end of sanctions and hostilities against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), and supporting reunification and democracy movements led and defined by Koreans
They prioritize direct action, political education and collaboration with like-minded groups. They are anti-imperialist/anti-capitalist, and therefore in solidarity with liberation struggles and organizing efforts directed at ending U.S. occupation around the world.

Tigers once roamed wild on the Korean peninsula, and are common characters in minhwa, Korean folk art. They represent strength and resilience, often cast as protectors or guardians, and are sometimes comedic. chose to make a tiger puppet for Peoplehood, 2025, both fierce and funny, whose stripes form the word UNITY, showing the historic unity of the Korean people, and the organization’s sense of unity with global liberation struggles.

Our tiger was designed by KPCP member Tommy McShane .a.gotchi , with support from Spiral Q Peoplehood artist Maisie O’Brien & Eurhi Jones .jones and fabricated with help from KPCP members and Spiral Q volunteers.

Thank you to Eurhi Jones, Steph Czapla, Hanbit Kwon, and for video and photos

01/05/2026

Peoplehood pageant spotlight - Mariposas and water droplets - Mariposas brought to life by children of all ages joyfully danced in the bowl led by a giant monarch and moth when suddenly they became trapped in large orange fences. The narrator freezes the action of the scene to ask the crowd if this is the world we want, where our butterflies can be trapped, and are encouraged to remember the tools we have available despite how bleak and scary the world may seem.

Water droplets, like tears, join the narrator with calls to action and reminders written by immigration rights leaders such as: “you have rights,” “record,” “make a plan,” and “we are powerful together.” As the butterflies chanted “let us out” the audience calls and responds to the water, helping to activate the water droplets to melt ice and break the orange fence, freeing our mariposas to dance once again and follow the egrets and flotilla boats in their natural migratory patterns.

Giant Moth and Monarch butterfly puppet ❤️artists Maisie O’Brien and Lou Hemler

Thank you to @l for video and photos ❤️

12/26/2025

Peoplehood Partner Spotlight - Transit Forward Philly! This was their first year participating in the Peoplehood Parade and Pageant! During our community art builds their members made septa train puppets that read their slogans “Philly invest in yourself!” and “Save Septa, save our futures!”. This gorgeous train puppet was carried alongside beautifull signs that called for freedom mobility and highlighting the importance of transit access for all.

is a coalition of 37 groups advocating for Safe, accessible, sustainable transit for all and a community that keeps fighting for the freedom of mobility that Philly deserves.They fight for better transit for both Philadelphians and Septa workers! Some of their current demands are affordable transit in Philly through a Transit Access Fund, and Fully funded transit the next state budget.

Transit Forward Philly is also a part of the Transit For All PA Coalition. After transit funding was “taken off the table” in this year’s state budget negotiations, the Transit For All PA Coalition – made up of thousands of transit riders, transit workers and stakeholders – kept calling on state leaders to take urgent action to keep our transit safe and in service.

Follow them and support their work at


Thanks to , , Ariadne Brazo, and for photos ❤️

12/22/2025

Spread the word!
Spiral Q is seeking a part-time or full-time Partnership & Program Manager to join our small staff team from February-July 31st 2026, with the hope of extending this position pending funding.

The person in this role is energized by working in and building relationships with a variety of community spaces (such as public schools, community centers and libraries) and their extended networks such as principals, site coordinators, teachers, parents/guardians, and students. With an eye for detail, an understanding of program management, and a passion for working with youth, this person is comfortable moving between tasks and collaborating across differentdepartments working iteratively and collaboratively. In this upcoming
season this role will largely consist of program administration for
Spiral Q’s SparQ youth arts education program in its 13th year at Blankenburg Elementary School in West Philly.

12/17/2025

Peoplehood pageant spotlight Flotilla and Egrets - Water filled the bowl where the parade had just cascaded into. Three giant egrets, each one 12 ft wide and puppeted by 3 artists gracefully flew through and over the water guiding a flotilla boat. The procession of water, egrets, and boats passed through the bowl three times; serving as an interlude between pageant sections reminding us that the natural world necessitates movement. With each pass the number of flotilla boats grew from 15 to 50 boats as a symbol of our collective power, building a bridge that can be danced across, connecting people to aid and care. The boats were eventually joined by giant banners that lift up international political prisoners and martyrs from Palestine and Sudan. The team wanted to give our audience space to breathe, so each interlude was paired with folk songs to underscore the meaning of the moment and encouraged us to slow down to witness, reflect and listen deeply. The pageant band, headed by Noah and Olivia, moved audience through songs

I hate the capitalist system
And I’ll tell you the reason why
It harms the Earth, our mother
And makes me want to cry
-Written by Sarah Ogan, re-written by Jessica Gath

I believe, I believe
That the world is asking why
And a bomb is no reply
-Written by Malvina Reynolds

If we could consider each other,
A neighbor, a friend, or a brother
It could be a wonderful world
-Written by Lou Singer & Hy Zaret

To see all of our incredible folks songs, and their histories, curated and compiled by visit: Folk Song Historical Context see our linktree.

Egret artist Liza Goodell and Richard Hwang
Flotilla fleet made by and friends in Peoplehood kids/families days
Politely Prisoners/martyr banners by

Thanks to Hanbit Kwon, for this documentation

12/14/2025

Peoplehood Pageant spotlight 🙏Wall + Houses
Children stand in wearable houses coming toward the audience as Dianna from West/Southwest Rising sings “O Mary Don’t You Weep”, then educates about housing inequality. As the children move forward a 24 foot canvas wall, stretches across the field blocking the audience from three house props made by One PA in the art builds. The wall remained throughout the pageant - a symbol of how borders divide communities.

“A wall is just a wall
And nothing more at all
It can be broken down”

A quote by the recently passed Assata Shakur is painted across the canvas barrier reminding us that the borders between us are malleable. In the final moments of the pageant, the entire community of pageant puppets and performers come together to break down the wall to reconnect our communities back to one another and allow space for our milkweed to seed and flourish for generations to come.

Wall artist - ❤️

Big thanks to for this documentation

12/12/2025

Peoplehood Partner Spotlight - Philly Bike Action created new pieces in the art builds to parade with their wonderful biking animal puppets that they made last year. Focusing on their campaign demanding a safer Fairmount Park for bikers and pedestrians, they created a GIANT puppet funnel depicting a mass of cars being funneled from various highways into the Fairmount park area and supporting signs and banners.

Philly Bike Action seeks to expand Philly’s protected bike lane network and improve the experience of riding a bike in Philadelphia. Follow and sign their “Demand a Safer Fairmount Park” petition in their bio.

Photos by and Ariadne Brazo

12/11/2025

Peoplehood Pageant spotlight🙏Compost and Milkweed
The Peoplehood parade transitioned into the pageant performance in Clark Park where there stood three Philly row homes and a giant compost pile puppet, a symbol of restorative justice: nothing and no one can be tossed away, and everything can be transformed with time and energy. Over the pageant performance our organizing partners threw systems and practices that no longer serve us, such as broken public transit systems, cash bail, housing inequality, and fences that separate us, into the compost pile to be transformed.

But compost needs more than our waste; it needs water, which is also a force for change, to grow. The compost accumulates and grows over the course of the pageant, with the band accentuating the movements and speeches of our narrator who is the tender of the compost. As the compost was fed the audience chanted “I protect me, we protect we” to encourage the growth of a giant milkweed plant growing out of the compost pile which bloomed into a soft landing place for a monarch butterfly. The worms in the compost pile danced all pageant long, stealing the show which in its entirety became a symbol of all the beautiful things we can grow/build if we worked together.



Team shout out:
Milkweed artists: Lou Hemler, Jamie Campbell
Butterfly artist Maisie O'Brien
Compost artists- Asa Heaps, Ro Adler, Lily Grace, KP Pettigrew Kathryn Briggs ,our incredible compost tender Sam Rise and everyone else who helped them come to life.
Concept and development: Rachel O'Hanlon Rodriguez, Sunshine O'Dea

Video and photos provided by Lori Waselchuk, Rachael Warriner, Joe Piette

12/02/2025

In honor of Spiral Q’s 25th year of Peoplehood we have a goal to raise 25k by the end of January and we’re over halfway there!

This Giving Tuesday consider helping us reach our goal with a donation if any size or by becoming a sustaining donor at any frequency and amount. You contribution directly supports the work of Peoplehood that continues through the year as we hold art builds, loan puppets and materials, and consult on art strategy and messaging. (We’ve already held 2 art builds, done two materials loans, and two art loans just since Peoplehood!)

There’s no Q without YOU! Huge thanks to all who have donated already to get us to this incredible point. ❤️

https://spiralq-bloom.kindful.com/?campaign=1387677