Symphony for a Broken Orchestra update
Earlier this year, Temple Contemporary installed repair kits for musical instruments in every Philadelphia public school music classroom—the latest phase of Symphony for a Broken Orchestra project, a multi-year, city-wide effort initiated by Temple Contemporary, its many institutional partners and hundreds of professional and amateur musicians throughout the city. Together, these musicians performed a unique composition written by acclaimed composer David Lang specifically for the sounds these instruments can only make in their broken state. For more information, please visit symphonyforabrokenorchestra.org.
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Added Velocity Grants
Added Velocity builds on the momentum of The Velocity Fund by directly supporting successful grantees who demonstrate a commitment to expanding their initial projects in meaningful and far-reaching ways. Five Added Velocity projects will be funded $15,000 to build on the successes of their initial projects by expanding audiences through multiple public outcomes across Philadelphia. Added Velocity is administered by Temple Contemporary at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture with generous support from the William Penn Foundation.
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How & Why
Many of our peer museums and galleries come up with a great idea and then start looking for an audience to come and see it. At Temple Contemporary, we start with the public first! Our programming is designed with the public at the forefront of our process. Learn about how we do it here.
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Temple Contemporary’s Advisory Council—consisting of a diverse group of Philadelphians, including high school, Tyler and Temple University students, faculty, community activists, civic leaders and more—meets regularly to discuss pressing questions that inform our programming. At each meeting, our advisors vote on the questions that they feel have the greatest local relevance and international significance. One such question that Temple Contemporary is currently exploring in its programming is "Are we listening?"
"Are we listening?"
With the national political climate polarized on an unprecedented scale and social media algorithms increasingly insulating us from perspectives we do not "like," there are diminishing opportunities to listen—really listen—to one another. The profound irony is that we have never in human history been better connected to such a diverse range of sources of information and individual perspectives. Are we losing patience with different or opposing opinions? Are we even hearing them anymore? Have we really stopped listening?
Temple Contemporary programming that is addressing this question ranges from Rob Blackson's Tyler class, "Visualizing Urgency: Are We Listening?" to the Stetson Bell Concert Series, which invites musicians from across Philadelphia to play a historic, neighborhood factory bell that has not been heard in decades. In Temple Contemporary's project space, you'll see works on view by artists Ada Trillo and Cannupa Hanska Luger, who are sharing stories of those whose voices are not often heard—including asylum seekers and those who've lost their lives at the U.S.-Mexico border, through their provocative works and artistic practices.
