It’s been on the QT, but now we can reveal that indeed, we are an ArtPlace partner. In The New York Times, Robin Pogrebin reports on ArtPlace, a project that is putting lots of support behind the idea that arts organizations are engines of economic development–an idea that, as a city, Philadelphia’s been behind for a while now.

For the Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe, what this means is a $350,000 (!) grant to support the redevelopment of our new home in an historic water pumping station across the street from the new Race Street pier. As we kick off the fundraising campaign that will see this project through to completion–and through which Live Arts and Philly Fringe will help anchor the redevelopment of the Delaware River waterfront–this support is invaluable.

We’ve already started exploring what we can do with the space. As seen in Kevin Monko’s photo above, at the 2011 Live Arts Festival we installed Zon-Mai, part of our spotlight series At Home, Elsewhere. Choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and the filmmaker Gilles Delmas visited the homes of 21 dancers who have migrated around the world, or who have been displaced, and filmed them performing in those homes. These films are projected on a house made of screens (and you can still catch it through Saturday evening), and this meditation on home and cultural identity–already a profoundly compelling piece–is especially exciting for us. Live Arts and Philly Fringe have been itinerant themselves, moving from site to site across Philadelphia. We’re 15 years old (!!), and it’s time to settle down.

Locally, the building project has also started to garner attention including Howard Shapiro’s story about our future for the Inquirer and this accompanying video tour through the space with Nick Stuccio, our producing director: Through Saturday, September 17, 2011 you can (and should) check out Zon-Mai, at our new home, right here.