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
  • Bearded Ladies
  • 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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Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow – Open Call

Muse Gallery

May 1 — September 1, 2026

Open Call

Muse Gallery invites artists affiliated with Philadelphia-area collectives, DIY, or
cooperative spaces—past or present—to submit work for a special exhibition
honoring the legacy and future of artist-run spaces in the city.

We honor Philadelphia’s rich history of artist-run spaces while spotlighting current
and emerging collectives. This exhibition invites reflection on shared experiences,
generational transitions, and future possibilities in our art community.

Each piece should represent one of the three timeframes: Yesterday, Today, or
Tomorrow, with an emphasis on (keep intergenerational) reflection and collaboration, highlighting the resilience of artists working together across time through economic, political, and cultural change.

Yesterday —historical or reflective work from earlier in the artist’s journey or
collective experience
Today — recent work engaging with current issues or practices
Tomorrow —experimental, or forward-looking work

Submission open: May 2026

Jurors:

Zifeng Zang, Muse Gallery artist
Zifeng Zang is a Philadelphia-based abstract painter and art educator. She holds BFAs from Jilin University and West Chester University and is known for her expressive, layered paintings. She is a member of Muse Gallery and completed a residency at The Delaware Contemporary in 2024. Her work has been exhibited throughout the Greater Philadelphia area.

Sharon Ewing, invited guest juror
Sharon Ewing holds degrees from Wellesley College, the University of Pennsylvania,
and Drexel University. She spent over fifty years with Gross McCleaf Gallery as
Assistant Director, Director, and later Owner, helping sustain its reputation for
presenting leading regional contemporary artists.

Established late in 1977, the Muse Gallery is an artists’ cooperative dedicated to encourage and promote its members’ artistic expression through abstract, conceptual and representational forms. Reflecting an aesthetic that awakens awareness, the Muse Gallery affirms the shared experience of art between the artist and the community.