about
Collective Futures
is a six-week, citywide project activating Philadelphia’s network of artist-run spaces, DIY venues, and community-based initiatives. This collaboratively organized project bringing together more than 30 independent spaces and organizations, Collective Futures will unfold across the city through exhibitions, performances, workshops, and public programs from Kensington and North Chinatown to West Philadelphia, Fishtown, and Old City, between October 2 and November 15, 2026.

At its core, Collective Futures centers collective practice as a vital mode of cultural production. Across disciplines and contexts, the project highlights how artists come together to build shared platforms, experiment with new forms, and sustain creative communities.

Taking place during the 250th anniversary of the so-called United States, while many institutions in Philadelphia conjure programming around the complex histories of nation-building and democracy, Collective Futures highlights the artistic experimentation and alternative models that grassroots cultural spaces have long been building

Collective Futures is grounded in the specific conditions of Philadelphia, where a rich ecosystem of artist-run and DIY spaces has made collaborative cultural production possible. As rising costs and development reshape the city, the project affirms the importance of collective cultural life and the infrastructures that sustain it, so that our work can mobilize resources, deepen connections, and envision transformative futures.

Collective Futures is:

  • 2C Books / Marginal Utility
  • 5U Space
  • All Mutable
  • The Arts League
  • Asian Arts Initiative
  • AUTOMAT Collective
  • Batikh Batikh
  • The Bearded Ladies Cabaret
  • Big Ramp
  • Biomaterials Working Group
  • BYO Printmaking Collaborative
  • Center for Emerging Visual Artists
  • Cherry St Pier
  • cinéSPEAK
  • City Arts Salon LLC
  • Da Vinci Art Alliance
  • Fable Encounters
  • Fairmount House
  • FJORD
  • Future Flower Collective
  • FORTUNE
  • Gravy Studio
  • Grizzly Grizzly
  • The Halide Project
  • Hall Pass
  • Icebox Project Space
  • Jane Gallery
  • Luster Gallery
  • Memory Workers Guild
  • Muse Gallery
  • Obvious Agency
  • Paradigm Gallery + Studio
  • Peep Projects
  • Pentimenti
  • People’s Music Supply
  • Pink Noise Projects
  • Practice
  • Prism Arts
  • Second State Press
  • Space 1026
  • Teils Studio
  • Termite TV Collective
  • Tiger Strikes Asteroid Philadelphia
  • Ulises
  • Umbria Arts
  • Vox Populi

Collective Futures is made possible with the support of the Penn Treaty Special Services District (PTSSD), the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and the PCI Catalyst Grant.

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In Circulation & Taking a step sideways and then circling around

Da Vinci Art Alliance

September 30 — October 25, 2026


In Circulation & Taking a step sideways and then circling around
Sept 30 — Oct 25 
Da Vinci Art Alliance
704 Catharine St, Philadelphia, PA 19147

Gallery Hours: 
Friday & Saturday 11-6
By Appointment Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday

DVAA will be presenting 2 exhibitions at 704 Catharine St as part of Collective Futures. 

In Circulation, a solo exhibition by Natalie Manes, 2026 Linda Dubin Garfield Fellow, sources archival materials from the John J. Wilcox Jr. Lending Library at William Way LGBT Community Center. Reproduced fragments of the library have been redistributed in public spaces throughout Philadelphia, highlighting the urgency that people need to understand the past to navigate the future. 

Similarly, Taking a step sideways and then circling around, curated by DVAA Executive Director Samantha M Connors, will present a collection of archival work from Philadelphia collectives who no longer formally present work, but still inspire what is happening within our practices today. We continue on and on and on, making and looking back and looking forward and looking within and out. 

Public Programs:

Opening Reception Oct 3, 5-7pm
Paper and Paste Wheatpaste Workshop: Oct 10, 1-4pm
Preserving a Narrative: A Discussion around Archival Methodologies  – Oct 15th 6-7:30pm

Da Vinci Art Alliance (DVAA) is an intergenerational artist collaborative that promotes creativity as a tool to build collective resilience. Founded by Italian Immigrants in 1931, our work continues to support marginalized artists and connect disparate Greater Philadelphia communities across socio-economic and cultural barriers. Our exhibitions, workshops, mentorship programs, and creative partnerships envision a future where people use art to build new, equitable worlds.