Halftone

From platypuses and moon-gazing to biblical and mythical reimaginings, poets Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi and J Mase III bring Black, Brown, and Indigenous trans histories to life through the power of the pen. But when it comes to confronting those we love who also cause us harm, they discover sometimes the only way out is inward. To transform others, you have to love yourself first. In this fiery final episode of season 3, Lady Dane and J Mase take us on a journey of accountability and healing from the Founding Fathers to the most expansive galaxies within each of us.

In our second episode of Halftone, theater artists and playwrights MK Tuonamen and Harmon dot aut ruminate on the collapsed-time magic of trans experiences. From embroidered relics of a housebound life to leading bovine war cries, slip into the feedback loop of love that forms when you risk it all with an audience.

From songwriting workshops for young artists to live concerts for kids at libraries, theater artist/musicians Anthony Martinez-Briggs and Jordan McCree—aka US and Just Jordan from Philadelphia-based hip hop outfit ILL DOOTS—build community through collaboration. But what does it mean to embrace your whole self? It’s time to get corporeal.

In season 3, we’re bringing you conversations between trans and genderqueer artists whose work holds space at the intersection of performance and identity. At the invitation from the Bearded Ladies Cabaret, each of these artists took the stage as part of the exhibition, John Jarboe: The Rose Garden, where they captivated live audiences with experimental theater, music, and poetry.Join our host, cabaret artist Messapotamia "Messy" Lefae, as we dive into the inclusive, collaborative process that brings their performances to life.

Episode 2: Ana Mosquera How does the virtual impact our relationship to home, travel, and our sense of belonging? In Episode 2, artist Ana Mosquera travels through Philadelphia using Samsung intelligence assistant Bixby, confronting the boundaries of language, in pursuit of a definition of home.  About Ana Mosquera Ana Mosquera is an artist from Caracas, Venezuela, currently based in Philadelphia. She obtained her MFA in Sculpture at Tyler School of Art and Architecture in 2020. She holds the 2016 National Prize for young artists awarded by the Museum of Contemporary Art Zulia and was awarded in 2021 with the Honorable Mention Carmen Cordovez Crespo by HFFA at the16th Mendoza Awards, Venezuela. Her most recent exhibitions include the 20/92 Video Festival, Icebox Projects Crane Arts Building, Philadelphia (2022); Familiar Distances - Edge Zones, Miami (2021); Serendipia / Instalar - Espacio Monitor, Los Galpones Caracas (2021); ¿Por qué Islas? Solo Licencia de Reconocimiento, Tenerife (2021). About Halftone Halftone comes to you from The Fabric Workshop and Museum and is presented in connection with Bitter Fruit, an exhibition by artist Ahmed Alsoudani. This season of Halftone and Bitter Fruit are supported by Maja Paumgarten Parker and John Parker. Halftone is produced by Katie Parry and Alec Unkovic, engineered by Joel Metzler at MilkBoy the Studio. Our music was contributed by Char McCutcheon. Special thanks to our collaborators Ahmad Almallah and Ana Mosquera. Find more information at fabricworkshopandmuseum.org/halftone 

Episode 1: Ahmad Almallah Are the elements of a city that remind a person of home or their estrangement too personal for others to understand?  In Episode 1 of Season 2, we accompany Palestinian poet Ahmad Almallah as he walks home from The Fabric Workshop and Museum through the streets of Philadelphia, contemplating ideas of family, language, home, estrangement, and the magic of a big white dog.  About Ahmad Almallah Ahmad Almallah is a poet from Palestine. His first book of poems Bitter English is now available in the Phoenix Poets Series from the University of Chicago Press. He received the Edith Goldberg Paulson Memorial Prize for Creative Writing, and his set of poems “Recourse,” won the Blanche Colton Williams Fellowship. Some of his poems appeared in Jacket2, Track//Four, All Roads Will Lead You Home, Apiary, Supplement, SAND, Michigan Quarterly Review, Making Mirrors: Righting/Writing by Refugees, Cordite Poetry Review, Birmingham Poetry Review, and Great River Review. He holds a PhD in Arabic Literature from Indiana University Bloomington and an MFA in poetry from Hunter College. He currently lives in Philadelphia and teaches creative writing at the University of Pennsylvania. About Halftone Halftone comes to you from The Fabric Workshop and Museum and is presented in connection with Bitter Fruit, an exhibition by artist Ahmed Alsoudani. This season of Halftone and Bitter Fruit are supported by Maja Paumgarten Parker and John Parker. Halftone is produced by Katie Parry and Alec Unkovic, engineered by Joel Metzler at MilkBoy the Studio. Our music was contributed by Char McCutcheon. Special thanks to our collaborators Ahmad Almallah and Ana Mosquera, as well as our visitor services team members Kristina Centore, Olivia Dwyer, and George MacLeod, who contributed reflections about the exhibition to this episode. Find more information at fabricworkshopandmuseum.org/halftone 

Back for season 2, Halftone is a podcast from The Fabric Workshop and Museum that embodies the experimental nature of the Workshop. This season we’re exploring ideas of belonging and estrangement, and the ways we navigate a complex world. Inspired by our current exhibition, Ahmed Alsoudani: Bitter Fruit, we walk from the museum through the streets of Philadelphia with Palestinian Poet Ahmad Allmallah as he searches for home and Venezuelan artist Ana Mosquera as she weaves together a cyber territory. Don’t miss the two-episode second season of Halftone, premiering April 2022.

As the culmination of Halftone’s pilot season, dive into the making of the podcast. You’ll learn about some of the inspirations for Blood Moon, Mary Reid Kelley and Patrick Kelley’s exhibition that inspired this season, and how the research for that show inspired the staff to develop this series.The team at the Workshop speak with Quinn Bauriedel, Pig Iron's Co-Artistic Director, about the creative ideas behind putting together the works featured this season and discuss the methods of collaboration and shared approaches between the Workshop and Pig Iron when embarking on experimental projects and finding creativity.About HalftoneHalftone comes to you from The Fabric Workshop and Museum in partnership with Pig Iron Theatre Company. Halftone is presented in connection with Blood Moon, an exhibition by artists Mary Reid Kelley and Patrick Kelley at the Fabric Workshop and Museum, which is supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. Halftone is produced by Katie Parry, Erin Sweeny, and Alec Unkovic, engineered by Joel Metzler at MilkBoy the Studio. Our music was contributed by Char McCutcheon. Special thanks to Nikki Schaffer and our collaborators at Pig Iron Theatre Company, including Quinn Bauriedel, Francesca Montanile, Jeanne Lyons, and Tony Moaton. Find more information at fabricworkshopandmuseum.org/halftone

In the third episode of Halftone, artist Tony Moaton presents an audio work inspired by the recent events of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tony’s piece honors the voices lost, and pays tribute to the people who have passed away in the pandemic from COVID and whose lives deserve celebration. This tribute is offered in the form of a DJ house gospel set.Halftone, a new podcast series from The Fabric Workshop and Museum, embodies the experimental nature of the Workshop and draws inspiration from our collaborations with artists. Halftone brings you stories from this place we so often inhabit in the creative process: the space between the known and the unknown. This pilot season, presented in partnership with Pig Iron Theatre Company, takes inspiration from Blood Moon, The Fabric Workshop and Museum exhibition featuring a recent collaboration with artists Mary Reid Kelley and Patrick Kelley. About the ArtistTony Moaton (they/he) is an artist and inclusive designer from Oak Park, Illinois. Tony’s passionate about creating intimate and accessible spaces and places. Their work spans a variety of mediums and collaborators, but the root of all of it is drawing from their non-traditional background to create work in a way that radically centers the user. Check out Tony’s range of work at tonymoaton.comAbout HalftoneHalftone comes to you from The Fabric Workshop and Museum in partnership with Pig Iron Theatre Company. Halftone is presented in connection with Blood Moon, an exhibition by artists Mary Reid Kelley and Patrick Kelley at the Fabric Workshop and Museum, which is supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. Halftone is produced by Katie Parry, Erin Sweeny, and Alec Unkovic, engineered by Joel Metzler at MilkBoy the Studio. Our music was contributed by Char McCutcheon. Special thanks to our collaborators at Pig Iron Theatre Company, including Quinn Bauriedel, Francesca Montanile, Jeanne Lyons, and Tony Moaton. Find more information at fabricworkshopandmuseum.org/halftone

This second episode of Halftone presents a work that springs from artist Jeanne Lyons’s desire to immerse themselves in the photographic work and creative process of the American photographer Francesca Woodman, who left behind over 800 photographic works created between the ages of 13 and 21. Woodman died by suicide and received widespread recognition around her artistic work only after her death. Through the creation of this exploratory audio piece, Jeanne wonders, “What was Francesca’s creative process like? Who did she know herself to be in the studio? What energy was behind the work?"Halftone, a new podcast series from The Fabric Workshop and Museum, embodies the experimental nature of the Workshop and draws inspiration from our collaborations with artists. Halftone brings you stories from this place we so often inhabit in the creative process: the space between the known and the unknown. This pilot season, presented in partnership with Pig Iron Theatre Company, takes inspiration from Blood Moon, The Fabric Workshop and Museum exhibition featuring a recent collaboration with artists Mary Reid Kelley and Patrick Kelley. About the ArtistJeanne Lyons (she/they) is a music producer, photographer, and performing artist based in Philadelphia. Lyons is process oriented as a protest to perfectionism and has a strong commitment to experimentation. Her work explores themes of identity, shame, grief, death, nature, and technology. Check out her latest release, Another Place [EP], an ethereal sonic journey with haunting vocal layers + deep electronic pulses on Spotify or Apple Music. iamjeannelyons.comAbout HalftoneHalftone comes to you from The Fabric Workshop and Museum in partnership with Pig Iron Theatre Company. Halftone is presented in connection with Blood Moon, an exhibition by artists Mary Reid Kelley and Patrick Kelley at the Fabric Workshop and Museum, which is supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. Halftone is produced by Katie Parry, Erin Sweeny, and Alec Unkovic, engineered by Joel Metzler at MilkBoy the Studio. Our music was contributed by Char McCutcheon. Special thanks to our collaborators at Pig Iron Theatre Company, including Quinn Bauriedel, Francesca Montanile, Jeanne Lyons, and Tony Moaton. Find more information at fabricworkshopandmuseum.org/halftone

In this episode of Halftone, multidisciplinary artist Francesca Montanile Lyons revisits her thirteen-year-old self, conjuring the voice of Vladamir Nabokov’s character Lolita. Pairing entries from her own teenage diary with the voice of the character Humbert Humbert, she ponders the persistent complexity of beauty and the voyeuristic gaze.Halftone, a new podcast series from The Fabric Workshop and Museum, embodies the experimental nature of the Workshop and draws inspiration from our collaborations with artists. Halftone brings you stories from this place we so often inhabit in the creative process: the space between the known and the unknown. This pilot season, presented in partnership with Pig Iron Theatre Company, takes inspiration from Blood Moon, The Fabric Workshop and Museum exhibition featuring a recent collaboration with artists Mary Reid Kelley and Patrick Kelley.About the ArtistFrancesca Montanile Lyons (she/her) is a multi-disciplinary artist and educator living in Philadelphia. Her work seeks to disempower shame through playful honesty and voyeuristic delight. She’s a member of the pussy pop rock band Girl Poop and co-artistic director of Antigravity Performance Project. MFA in Devised Performance from UArts/Pig Iron School (2016). BA in Theatre Arts & Performance Studies from Brown U (2011). www.francescamontanilelyons.com. Instagram: @fmldrawsbutts.About HalftoneHalftone comes to you from The Fabric Workshop and Museum in partnership with Pig Iron Theatre Company. Halftone is presented in connection with Blood Moon, an exhibition by artists Mary Reid Kelley and Patrick Kelley at the Fabric Workshop and Museum, which is supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. Halftone is produced by Katie Parry, Erin Sweeny, and Alec Unkovic, engineered by Joel Metzler at MilkBoy the Studio. Our music was contributed by Char McCutcheon. Special thanks to our collaborators at Pig Iron Theatre Company, including Quinn Bauriedel, Francesca Montanile, Jeanne Lyons, and Tony Moaton. Find more information at fabricworkshopandmuseum.org/halftone

Introducing Halftone, the pilot season of a new podcast series from The Fabric Workshop and Museum. Embodying the experimental nature of the Workshop, Halftone draws inspiration from our collaborations with artists and brings you stories from this place we so often inhabit in the creative process: the space between the known and the unknown. This pilot season, presented in partnership with Pig Iron Theatre Company, takes inspiration from Blood Moon, The Fabric Workshop and Museum exhibition featuring a recent collaboration with artists Mary Reid Kelley and Patrick Kelley.Don’t miss the first episode of Halftone, premiering November 12, 2021.