When Terri Shockley applied for an artist's residency some 10 years ago at the Community Education Center in West Philadelphia on the edge of Powelton Village, she had a pretty impressive background. She was a founding member of a New York-based dance/theatre group called the Urban Bush Women, which toured internationally, performing African Diaspora dance and theater that brought to life stories of the African-American experience.
Shockley had put together a couple of choreographed pieces and got the residency, but it wasn't until some time later that she was told her audition tape was less than stellar. At the time, the folks at CEC, which served as a hybrid community center/arts incubator, recognized something else in Shockley -- a predilection and demeanor well-suited for arts administration.
After her residency, Shockley did an internship at CEC, stayed on as performing arts coordinator and then served as program director. Now, as executive director, Shockley is a battle-tested arts leader who continues plowing forward with CEC's mission despite a host of challenges, including a shorter performance season.
"Sometimes I feel like we're a hard group for people to see how important we are," she says, without a hint of sour grapes.
That is starting to slowly change as CEC is in the running for some significant grants. The most high-profile is the Kraft Foods/Maxwell House Drops of Good Community Houses grant, for which CEC is a finalist to be one of five community centers across the country to receive $50,000. They are currently running about fifth in the competition, so they could use your help via the online voting.
"We've got to win this," she says, noting that the grant also provides for skilled laborers. Shockley says this a few days after CEC's century-old building survived a major plumbing repair. The porch, roof and parking lot also need a lot of attention, and that's just to start.
CEC's physical space is just one challenge. Another is building out its board in a way that both reflects the community and strengthens CEC, which already runs on a shoestring with one full-time staffer (Shockley) and exists in a neighborhood with some challenges and where most folks aren't accustomed to serving in such a capacity.
CEC has been around since 1973, and the arts have always been at the forefront. Some of the city's most prominent African-American performers and artistic minds rent space or perform here. There's the city's oldest dance company, Group Motion, Rennie Harris Pure Movement, Second Circle Intergenerational Theatre Company, and a new troupe known as Danse 4 Nia.
There's also the artist in residency program, known as the New Edge Residency, which provides for artists to come to CEC, create a work and present it in CEC's small, non-air conditioned, but lively 60-seat theater. The residency allows artists to focus on the performance, not self-producing, and also offers a small stipend, and some photos and video.
"I contend it's one of the most used and most accessible and affordable spaces of its kind," says Shockley, who lives in North Philly at 18th and Erie and came to Philadelphia when she married her husband, Philly native and playwright Ed Shockley.
"I feel like it's my job to try and provide for the community a place where they can work and that's what I do my best to do."
A stronger bond with the community is also on Shockley's wish list. A new website is going live sometime this month and there's a fundraiser on Saturday (April 23) at The Rotunda (4014 Walnut St., Philadelphia). It's the First World Theatre's production of "Sojourner," staring Barrymore Award-winning CEC board member Zuhairah McGill, and will also benefit West Philly counterpart Paul Robeson House. Another larger fundraiser for CEC is being put together for June.
"Our goal is to connect artists with the community in hopes that both will help each other and we'll start building community through the arts," says Shockley.
JOE PETRUCCI is managing editor of Flying Kite. Send feedback here.
Photos:
Terri Shockley photo by Christopher Gabello.
CEC building photo courtesy of CEC.