A year after reinventing itself, the West Philly-based Journey Arts kicks off its 2025-26 season this November. The three productions will “explore the enduring strength of identity, heritage and community.” 

“We see a world where belonging is for everyone and that your story belongs on the stage,” said Carly Rapaport-Stein, its executive director. “You belong here in whatever capacity you want to be here and your story matters.”

The new season begins on Nov. 6 with “Miwa,” a multimedia experience crafted by sisters Talie and Lunise Cerin, followed by the organization’s signature “Table Sessions” in April. The season ends in June with “To Be Here,” an exhibition and performance created by artists Lynda Grace Black and Magda Martinez.

“Miwa”

Running from Nov. 6 to Nov. 8 at the Icebox Project Space in Fishtown, “Miwa” — Haitian Creole for “mirror” — will feature documentary footage from Lunise, along with a concert from Talie. The multimedia exhibit explores “heritage and practice of ritual,” Talie said.

Lunise’s documentary follows a handful of women in Haiti and Haitian-American women in Philadelphia. Broken down into five themes, the film is to be projected in five rooms throughout the gallery. Nia Benjamin, director of creative projects at Journey Arts, is creating installations that will accompany the projections. 

“Miwa” creators Lunise and Talie Cerin. (Photo by Christian Hayden)

“The different rooms are identity, community, land, celebration and spirit,” Lunise said. “We’re going to be creating these little rooms you walk into and it’s going to be an immersive experience of those different things.”

The final installation in the exhibit will be the concert. Talie composed and arranged traditional Haitian folk songs into new ones, a statement “about the old, what we bring with us when we migrate, and the new things we make with them.”

“Table Sessions”

In April, Journey Arts’ signature series, “Table Sessions,”  returns. This will mark the fourth year for the series, each of which is an intimate night of dinner and conversation, all paired with an artist. The meal is coupled with the artistic themes of the night, amplifying them.

“The idea is to feel like you are up close with the performance of the evening and just having a nice dinner, with friends and strangers,” said artistic director Marla Burkholder.  

The event was originally proposed in 2022 as a two-season run, but popularity has led to “Table Sessions” sticking around, and it has since become a staple offering for Journey Arts. Tickets are offered on a sliding scale, allowing attendees to choose what they wish to pay.

The artist for this year’s sessions has not been revealed, but you can check the “Table Sessions” page to stay updated.

“To Be Here”

“To Be Here,” the final production of Journey Arts’ 2025-26 season, opens on June 11, running for three nights at Christ Neighborhood Church House in Old City. The work is a collaboration between Lynda Grace Black, a mixed-media artist primarily working in fiber and textiles, and Magda Martinez, a playwright, poet and performer.

The “exhibition of performance” explores the relationship between newcomers and old-timers in Philly, and what it takes to be here, in the City of Brotherly Love.

“To Be Here” creators Magda Martinez and Lynda Grace Black. (Photo by Christian Hayden)

“In some ways it’s about resilience,” Burkholder said. “In some ways it’s about finding home in a new place, and it’s about finding community, with others who are very different than you, but share these ‘leaving home, coming home’ stories.”

The piece, currently being woven together by Black and Martinez, is based on sessions in which 15 to 20 Philadelphians from diverse backgrounds come together to tell stories and create art. 

Like “Miwa,” identity is a major thematic element of “To Be Here.” Rapaport-Stein said that while this theme is critical to these productions, it’s valuable to see them holistically.

“I think it’s really important in these works to be able to see the fullness of the humanity of a human being within and extended around their identity,” she said.

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