Mailing Address
1755 N 13th Street
Room 411S
Philadelphia, PA 19122
T. 215.204.1356
Email: iod@temple.edu
www.temple.edu/instituteondisabilities
Press Contacts
Lisa Sonneborn: lisa.sonneborn@temple.edu
Susan Fullam: sfullam@temple.edu
High res images and audio interviews at
temple.edu/instituteondisabilities/voices/afkol/storie
s-images.html
View press release online at afiercekindoflove.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 22, 2016
Institute On Disabilities and the Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative
Economy presents Here. Stories from Selinsgrove Center and KenCrest
Services. New Photo & Audio Installation Tells Unheard Stories of
Pennsylvanians with Intellectual Disabilities.
March 4 – May 6, City Hall, Philadelphia
Temple University’s Institute on Disabilities presents a new photo & audio installation
entitled Here. Stories from Selinsgrove Center and KenCrest Services. The exhibit
features photographs by award-winning photographer JJ Tiziou (How Philly Moves), and
audio recordings of nineteen individuals with intellectual disabilities who live and work
in segregated settings in Pennsylvania. The exhibit runs from March 4 – May 6 in City
Hall, Philadelphia (exhibit can be viewed on the fourth floor and the Northeast corner
stairwell).
Through large-scale portraits and intimate audio interviews, Here. offers insight into the
lives of nineteen people with intellectual disabilities through interviews conducted by
eighteen volunteers. The interviews were conducted over a two-month period in the
spring of 2015 at the Selinsgrove Center (Selinsgrove, PA) and KenCrest Services (just
outside Philadelphia). While the settings (a State center and a sheltered employment
workshop) may be new to many viewers, the interviews touch on universal themes
including: the dignity of work; the importance of giving and receiving support; the need
to make meaningful personal connection; and the simple act of being.
Celia Feinstein, Co-Executive Director of the Institute on Disabilities notes, “This work is
very timely. As we marked the 25th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act
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last year, we still have a long way to go in terms of providing access for and acceptance
of people with disabilities.”
“It is very appropriate that here in City Hall, at the seat of our local government, we
should host this exhibit,” says Tu Huynh, City Hall’s Exhibits Manager. “Through JJ
Tiziou’s photography and everyone behind this project, we are able to gain greater
insight into this critical issue. Here. reflects Art In City Hall’s commitment to be an
artistic platform for social engagement.”
Nicki Pombier Berger, exhibit co-curator says that this exhibit invites viewers to look and
listen differently. “Together, the photographs and audio interviews tell a complex story
highlighting the rich humanity of people who are often seen for their difference, if at
all.”
Feinstein commented that Here. Stories from Selinsgrove Center and KenCrest Services is
part of a multi-component endeavor that celebrates the stories of intellectual disability
rights and points to the ongoing need for activism and greater inclusion in society. Other
events include A Fierce Kind of Love, a new play by Drama Desk-nominee and Pig Iron
Theatre Company co-founder Suli Holum and directed by Philadelphia theater veteran
David Bradley; a Story Slam in partnership with First Person Arts, several town hall
discussions and a workshop on using personal stories to create theater.
An opening reception for Here. will be held at 4:00 pm on Friday, March 4 at City Hall’s
art gallery on the first floor. March is National Developmental Disabilities Awareness
Month.
A Fierce Kind of Love has been supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.
Creative Team
Jacques-Jean "JJ" Tiziou is a photographer specializing in portraiture and movement
documentation; he has never encountered an un-photogenic person in his life. He has
been recognized as one of Philadelphia's "Creative Connectors" by Leadership
Philadelphia, and is the recipient of the Spiral-Q Artist Activist Award. His images are
used both in corporate and editorial contexts as well as arts and activism, and he also
photographs weddings and hosts house concerts. His 85,000sqft How Philly Moves
mural at PHL International Airport was recognized as one of the nation's best public art
projects by Americans for the Arts in their 2012 Public Art Network Year in Review.
Based at The Cedar Works in West Philadelphia, JJ uses his work to celebrate the
beautiful people around him who are working to make the world a better place. You can
find more of his work online at www.jjtiziou.net, www.HowPhillyMoves.org
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Nicki Pombier Berger (co-curator) is a graduate of the Oral History Master of Arts
program at Columbia University (2013), where she was a Graduate Fellow in the Future
of Disability Studies Group at the Center for the Study of Social Difference. The
centerpiece of her Masters Thesis, Nothing About Us Without Us, is an online collection
of multimedia stories from self-advocates with Down syndrome. She has presented
alongside self-advocates about oral history and intellectual disability to a variety of
audiences, including individuals with Down syndrome and their family members, oral
historians, academics and advocates.
Currently, Nicki is a consultant and producer for the Toward Independent Living and
Learning (TILL) Living Legacy Project, for which she developed and produced an oral
history-based professional development video and discussion guide, leveraging the
stories of individuals with intellectual disabilities in training human services
professionals who work with them.
Previously, Nicki worked at StoryCorps, the national nonprofit oral history project,
where she led the National Teachers Initiative, and worked on StoryCorpsU, a youth
development program. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her two sons, Jackson, and
Jonah, who has Down syndrome.
Lisa Sonneborn (co-curator) is a film and video producer whose work has been used to
promote social action in the disability community. Lisa currently produces the Visionary
Voices and A Fierce Kind of Love projects for the Institute on Disabilities. Both projects
preserve the history of Pennsylvania's Intellectual Disability Rights Movement through
oral history interviews with the Movement's leaders, the preservation of archive
materials to the Movement and public performance.
Lisa’s first documentary, Unequal Justice: The Case for Johnny Lee Wilson, told the story
of a young man with an intellectual disability who was wrongfully imprisoned for
murder. Produced in partnership with the Institute on Disabilities at Temple University,
Unequal Justice started a national conversation about people with disabilities as alleged
offenders and as victims of crime. As a result disability/criminal justice programs are
now a foundational part of the Institute's work. Lisa has continued to support the
Institute's criminal justice work by producing three additional educational/advocacy
videos about disability and the criminal justice system, and by organizing national
conferences and think tanks focused on that issue. She has presented her work at local
and national conferences for disability professionals, self-advocates and criminal justice
professionals.
About the Institute on Disabilities
The Institute on Disabilities is Pennsylvania’s University Center for Excellence at Temple
University. Since its inception, the Institute has continued to innovate and serve in four
core areas – pre-professional training, community training and technical assistance,
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research and information dissemination. Located within Temple University’s College of
Education, the Institute addresses disability as a valued aspect of diversity throughout
civic life. We model our initiatives on input gathered from people with disabilities in
many communities; throughout Pennsylvania, our supports and training provide for
improved quality of life, and help shape progressive policy and research agendas wit
and on behalf of people with disabilities and families.
About the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy
The mission of the Creative Philadelphia — City of Philadelphia’s Office of Arts, Culture
and the Creative Economy is to support and promote arts, culture and the creative
industries; and to develop partnerships and coordinate efforts that weave arts, culture
and creativity into the economic and social fabric of the City. For more information on
the OACCE, visit: www.creativephl.org.
Here. Stories from Selinsgrove Center and KenCrest Services runs March 4 – May 6, 2016
at City Hall. Exhibit can be viewed on the fourth floor and the northeast corner stairwell.
An opening reception for Here. will be held from 5pm – 7pm on Friday, March 4, at the
Art in City Hall’s gallery on the first floor. Reception will be ASL interpreted. Additional
images and complete audio interviews available online at afiercekindoflove.org.
Community Events
A Fierce Kind of Love
A world premiere play by Drama Desk-nominee and Pig Iron Theatre Company cofounder Suli Holum and directed by Philadelphia theater veteran David Bradley. An
exploration of the intellectual disabilities rights movement in Philadelphia and
Pennsylvania, the play runs from April 7-17 at Christ Church Neighborhood House, 20
N. American Street, Philadelphia. A Fierce Kind of Love is performed by a mixed ability
cast.
Stories in Play
This engaging, interactive workshop, led by the creators of A Fierce Kind of Love, will
introduce participants of all abilities and experiences to techniques for bringing personal
stories to life in movement, song and performance. The focus will be on how diverse
groups of mixed abilities can come together and form energized, cohesive and creative
ensembles. April 9, 1pm – 3pm, Christ Church Neighborhood House, Philadelphia
Sib Slam with First Person Arts.
A night of story telling about our first friends and enemies – our siblings. Special curated
program of stories about siblings with disabilities. April 13, 7PM Christ Church
Neighborhood House.
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Lecture: Fierce Love, Activism and the Role of Parents.
A panel of nationally renowned disabilities studies scholars and advocates will discuss
the history of parent activism, the role parents continue to play in shaping disability
policy, and the fierce love required to raise a child with a disability. Moderated by award
winning journalist and metro columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News, Ronnie
Polaneczky. April 6, 9am – 12:30pm Temple University.
Press Contacts:
Lisa Sonneborn
215.284.4045
lisa.sonneborn@temple.edu
Susan Fullam
215.204.1123
sfullam@temple.edu
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