In the News: Via Hyperallergic, Radical Reclamation at the First-Ever ArtPhilly Festival
The arts and culture magazine took in What Now and came away impressed.
Hyperallergic sent a writer to explore the opening weekend of What Now: 2026, including "Sail Through This to That," "Iron and Paper" and "in case of fire, speak."
Most citizens know it’s been 250 years since the US declared its independence from England, but fewer will recall another brave, near-impossible act of independence that took place 230 years ago this spring. On May 21, 1796, Ona Judge escaped from the Philadelphia household of George and Martha Washington, who had enslaved her since birth, walked the half-mile to the Delaware River, and boarded a ship bound for New Hampshire. And on June 9, another anniversary: It will be six years since Dominique “Rem’mie” Fells, a Black transgender woman, was brutally murdered at age 27, her body dumped in the Schuylkill River, a tributary of the Delaware.
In their commission for ArtPhilly, Sail Through This to That, artist indira allegra honors, mourns, and explores the lives of both women by presenting three sails that will fly from the mast of a docked schooner. Colorful and abstract, the sails are adorned with an abstract rendering of gingko, an ancient plant symbolizing resilience, and mugwort, known for its healing powers and for facilitating dreams. On May 28, allegra and Philadelphia poet Evangeline Getty Brooks led a procession following the route Ona Judge would have taken toward her freedom.
Read the whole story HERE.
Image of the Sail Through This to That procession; via REC Philly.