In the years following America’s 150th birthday, the command to make it new! electrified the modern art world. Today, as Philadelphia prepares to host the country’s upcoming semiquincentennial bash, one could say the imperative is to make it now.
Now, All the City’s a Stage
Artists are taking the stage across Philly—and at Penn—for America 250, thanks to the formidable Katherine Sachs, CW’69, and ArtPhilly
Published: April 9, 2026
At least, that’s if you ask Kathy Sachs, CW’69, the founder and chair of ArtPhilly. Sachs also sits on the Penn Live Arts (PLA) Board of Advisors and is an emeritus member of both the University Board of Trustees and the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) Board of Advisors.
“The arts are something we all share, consciously or not, because they touch on the human experience. In the same way we share this city, we are sharing our historical moment, this now,” said Sachs during a recent interview.
Determined to see the arts better reflected in the upcoming America 250 programming, she assembled ArtPhilly’s coalition of executive directors, curators, artists, and philanthropists. Commissioning 34 original performances from artists around the city, they gave each a single line of inquiry: What now?
It is ‘What now?’ in the sense of Philadelphia’s history. And it can also mean, what are we doing now? and what are we going to do now? You can say ‘What now?’ and throw up your hands and give up—and you can take it as a call to buckle down and get to work.”Kathy Sachs, CW’69
To no surprise, ArtPhilly has taken the latter approach as its inaugural festival prepares to show us, and the world, how the arts will respond.
A Premiere at PLA
Those who attend the Penn Live Arts performance by the Martha Graham Dance Company and PHILADANCO! will have front-row seats from anywhere in the theater.
To set the stage: it was the late 1930s, and choreographer and dance icon Martha Graham was teaching at Bennington College, nestled in the idyllic foothills of Vermont’s Green Mountains. Across the Atlantic, however, a bitter war continued between China and Japan, and there were regular radio reports of the growing strength of fascist powers in Germany and Italy.
Deeply disturbed by the rising fascist tide, Graham crafted her response: American Document, which debuted in 1938. Originally incorporating some of America’s foundational documents—the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution—the show has been restaged multiple times, reflecting the growing pains and exploration of America’s national identity (in 1989, the show was dramatically reimagined and included quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr., and John F. Kennedy).
This May, choreographer Tommie-Waheed Evans will continue the tradition of reinterpretation and reveal his own response with the world premiere of in case of fire, speak!, a collaborative performance between the Martha Graham Dance Company and PHILADANCO! that was commissioned by PLA and ArtPhilly.
“Artists and performers can be the best interpreters of any moment in time. And this year, of all years, we want to see what these dancers and choreographers are thinking. Our democracy is in each of us, and it can’t ever be completely codified in writing. This show grapples with that fact, transforms it,” says Sachs. “It’s an amazing story, and ArtPhilly’s executive director Bill Adair and I are so excited to see what these artists do.”
The show, which runs May 29-30 at Zellerbach Theatre, marks just the beginning of the inaugural ArtPhilly festival, and will close out the 2025/2026 season at Penn Live Arts.
What’s Next at Penn
As ArtPhilly prepares to open its five-week run, Penn remains a resource and a destination for artists across its roster. The Kislak Center for Special Collections has been welcoming artists like composer Ruth Naomi Floyd, who delved deep into the Center’s collection of Marian Anderson’s letters, music scores, programs, photographs, and recordings for the compositions she’ll debut on June 16. The Penn Museum is offering tours. On June 28, ICA will see the staging of Rashid Zakat’s public space installation, Revival!.
“The arts are a crucial fiber in Penn’s fabric, and they’re part of who we are, as a city and as a country,” says Sachs. So whether it’s to an opening gala, a performance, a deeper understanding or an epiphany, for Sachs and ArtPhilly, the arts are “an open invitation for discovery.”
