Leeway Foundation

Meet 2026 Media Artist + Activist Residency (MAR) recipient Cass Arrington and collaborating organization Spiral Q!

Cass Arrington is a nonbinary multimedia artist based in and from Philadelphia. Across film, photography, poetry, and other artistic practice, Cass contemplates survival, transience, and grief in the exploration of Black, ecological, and q***r ontologies. Their poetry has been featured in places like Healing Verse Poetry Line, Sinister Wisdom Literary Journal, and the Yale University Art Gallery, while their photographs and films have been displayed at Scribe Video Center, Maysles Documentary Center, New York University, and beyond. Cass graduated from Yale College with a BA in Ethnicity, Race, & Migration Studies, and has served as a resident artist at the TILT Institute for the Contemporary Image, the Painted Bride Art Center, and currently, the Da Vinci Art Alliance.

Spiral Q is a Philly-based organization that aims to unleash the power of art to connect people, actions, values, neighborhoods, organizations, and movements to each other and to their collective creative force for change.

SWIPE THROUGH to learn more about Cass’s documentary following Spiral Q’s work with students at Blankenburg Elementary during the school's final year before its planned closure.

We are excited to see what is created between Cass and Spiral Q!

MAR is made possible by generous support from our funding partner, the People’s Media Fund.

We invite you to join us Friday, October 9th for our second Artist + Activist Screening! View works from past Media Artist + Activist Residency recipients and witness the work happening at the intersection of social justice + media making!

This year we are showing workings from:
Anula Shetty + Norris Square Neighborhood Project
Gabby Jackson + Care, Not Control
Laura Deutch + Ella-Gabriel Mason + Jewish Voice for Peace
Li Sumpter + Theatre in the X
Michelle Angela Ortiz + Bella Vista Neighbors Association

It's FREE to attend! Join us for light bites and mingling before the screening begins at 6:30pm!

🗓 Friday, October 9th from 6-8:30pm; screening at 6:30pm
📍 699 Ranstead St #1, Philadelphia, PA 19106
🔗 luma.com/artistactivist26

Support for MAR generously provided by the

Join us next Saturday at for our Elaine Smith, our Leeway x NextFab Artist in Residence, culminating event! https://luma.com/leeway-onuo

We'll open the streets with a community stroll led by Bloco Oyá, our intergenerational community Bloco Afro, while our Samba Foundation dancers take to the streets with parade choreography and invite everyone to join our community ala. The day's centerpiece is the debut of our brand-new surdo parade contraption, moving through the streets for the very first time!

​Stick around for BBQ, a DJ, arts & crafts for all ages, and a joyful community samba de roda to close out the day at

Saturday, Sept 19th at 1pm
📍Beginning at NextFab, 1800 N American St
💃 FREE to attend! https://luma.com/leeway-onuo

The Window of Opportunity (WOO) grant provides financial assistance of up to $1,500 to Leeway grant and award recipients to help them take advantage of imminent, time-sensitive opportunities to support their art for social change practice.

Jaye McNair Obaseki (WOO '26; ACG '24) traveled to Nigeria in July and August 2026 to study traditional and pictorial Adire textile practices with a master artist in Osogbo, deepening her work as a textile artist, educator, and cultural producer. This rare opportunity supported the development of her project, The Day Egungun Came to Philadelphia, a quilted children’s story inspired by her grandmother’s life and legacy, while expanding her understanding of Adire as a visual language for cultural memory, history, and storytelling. Rooted in her intergenerational arts initiative Brown Girls Sew, Jaye’s practice uses sewing, quilting, doll making, and textile storytelling to support cultural pride, creative expression, and self-determination among women, girls, and underserved communities. The knowledge and techniques gained through this immersive study will inform her future textile work and community programming, creating opportunities for participants to engage with African textile traditions and explore their own histories and stories through art.

The WOO grant supported Jaye's travel to Nigeria, workshop instruction, and lodging.

Learn more about Jaye here: leeway.org/grantees/jaye-mcnair-obaseki

Beginning this evening (5pm EST), the Leeway Foundation office will be closed for summer break! During this time all staff will be away from all platforms! We will be back starting Wednesday, September 9th and will respond to emails, comments, and questions then!

Wish you a smooth transition into September!
-The Leeway Team

Leeway Foundation is proud to announce the 2026 recipients of the Media Artist + Activist Residency (MAR), awarding $125,000 in funding to five collaborations between women, trans*, and gender nonconforming media artists and social justice organizations across the Greater Philadelphia region.

Now in its sixth year, MAR supports community-rooted residencies that harness the power of media and storytelling to document, reframe, and amplify movements for social change. This year’s cohort demonstrates how artists and community organizations can use creative practice to preserve stories and histories—and utilize them for building political education, strengthening collective memory, reclaiming public space, and creating new pathways for people to participate in movements for justice.

The 2026 projects engage urgent questions of who gets to shape Philadelphia’s future and whose stories are remembered, heard, and valued. From the impending closure of a historic public school and the experiences of immigrant domestic workers to the lives of incarcerated women and the struggles for housing and economic security among Black trans Philadelphians, these projects center communities building power in the face of systemic inequity. Across documentary film, public art, photography, digital media, and participatory storytelling, this year’s artists and organizations are creating work that invites audiences to witness, learn, connect, and take action.

The Media Artist + Activist Residency was made possible by generous support from our funding partner, the People’s Media Fund.

Click here learn more about the recipients and their upcoming projects: leeway.org/news/announcing-2026-mar-recipients

➡️ IN THE STREET, ON YOUR FEET, AND IN COMMUNITY!

Join PHonk!Philly, NextFab, and Leeway on Saturday, September 19th from 1–5pm for an afternoon of music, movement and community, celebrating the Kensington neighborhood. This event is led by the 2025 Leeway x NextFab Art and Technology Artist in Residence, Elaine Smith .

We will begin PROMPTLY at NextFab at 1pm with a parade that will end at Iglesias Garden for a community gathering and celebration from 2-5pm. If you are unable to make it by 1pm, please feel free to meet us at the garden!

We'll open the streets with a community stroll led by Bloco Oyá, our intergenerational community Bloco Afro, while our Samba Foundation dancers take to the streets with parade choreography and invite everyone to join our community ala. The day's centerpiece is the debut of our brand-new surdo parade contraption, moving through the streets for the very first time!

Stick around for BBQ, a DJ, arts & crafts for all ages, and a joyful community samba de roda to close out the day.

Learn more and sign up for free at: luma.com/leeway-onuo

This event will take place rain or shine!

The Window of Opportunity (WOO) grant provides financial assistance of up to $1,500 to Leeway grant and award recipients to help them take advantage of imminent, time-sensitive opportunities to support their art for social change practice.

Nikki Brake-Sillá (WOO ‘26, ‘25, ‘23, ‘22, ‘21, ‘20; LTA ‘23; ACG ‘22, ‘19) attended artEquity’s invitation-only Black Playwrights Gathering on Juneteenth (June 19, 2026) in Los Angeles, a unique convening created specifically for Black playwrights and performance artists and led by influential theater makers including Sharon Bridgforth, Omi Jones, Dominique Morisseau, Goldie Patrick, and a.k. payne. Centering stories of Black women and exploring the intersections of race, disability, gender, and caregiving in her work, the gathering provided Nikki the space to connect with fellow Black artists, exchange ideas, and build relationships with mentors and collaborators from across the country. This opportunity strengthened Nikki’s commitment to creating nuanced portrayals of Black life while expanding her professional network and opening pathways for future collaborations.

The WOO grant supported Nikki with airfare, lodging, food, and transportation costs.

Learn more about Nikki here: leeway.org/grantees/nikki-brake-silla

The Window of Opportunity (WOO) grant provides financial assistance of up to $1,500 to Leeway grant and award recipients to help them take advantage of imminent, time-sensitive opportunities to support their art for social change practice.

Eunice Levis (WOO ‘26, ‘25; ACG ‘22) presented El Colmado del Futuro, an immersive Caribbean installation premiering at Cherry Street Pier that transformed a traditional neighborhood corner store into a speculative near-future environment exploring technology, labor, migration, surveillance, and cultural memory through the lens of the Caribbean diaspora. Combining projection, spatial sound, environmental design, and live performance, the installation created an accessible immersive experience that invited audiences to consider how emerging technologies shaped communities often excluded from conversations about the future.

The WOO grant supported Eunice with the installation’s continued operation and future exhibition readiness through essential software licensing, as well as transportation costs following its initial presentation.

Learn more about Eunice here: leeway.org/grantees/eunice-levis