Donate through our Fiscal Sponsor,
the Painted Bride Art Center (fully tax-deductible):
Paypal: almanac@paintedbride.org
Checks made out to the Painted Bride Art Center, with “Almanac” in the memo line, and mailed to:
Painted Bride Art Center
5212 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19139

Almanac, like many other small arts organizations, lost almost all of our planned income in the wake of the global health crisis. For us, as a collective of artists who thrive off of physical contact, teamwork, complicity, and the power of many bodies coming together for a singular purpose, this has been a particularly challenging time. Our work has always been about the power of human beings supporting each other through the metaphor of acrobatics. But even when we were unable to physically lift each other up, we supported each other in other, more urgent ways, showing up for the communities we serve collectively and those in our circle as individuals.

Throughout the summer and fall of 2021, Almanac company members worked for thousands of unpaid hours to offer as much of our bodies, minds, and creative spirits as we could to do our part in reviving live art and cultural events in Philadelphia. We created Cannonball Festival, which even with no grant funding or institutional support, brought 28 original works to the fringe mainstage in addition to platforming hundreds of cabaret artists, visual artists, food vendors, bartenders, community parters, mutual aid groups, and more. These performances included first-look showings of three, brand new, full-length Almanac shows:
Happy Hour, an ensemble piece in response to our mental state in a “post” pandemic reality
Permission to Monster, a show that teaches young audiences the power of advocacy, and
$7 Girl, a virtuosic solo show that unapologetically calls to decriminalize the sex industry

Just two weeks after Cannonball Festival, we produced the second ever Fit Fest, which provided hundreds of attendees of all ages and abilities access to free workshops and performances across dozens of styles of dance, creative movement, circus, and storytelling. Despite not being able to officially premier Happy Hour due to a storm, many attendees stayed with us to continue dancing in the rain until sundown. The fun continued over three weekends of our extended community programming at Shackamaxon (Penn Treaty Park).

Looking ahead towards another winter of unknowns, we will hold dear the memories made with our community over the past year. We will cherish what our labors of love cultivated. We will continue to dream of creating even more expansive, liberated, excellent work. We will take some time to breathe, rest, and reflect on the many ways this past year has reaffirmed our belief that we can always do more together than we ever can apart.