Nestled among the greenery alongside Locust Walk, the Kelly Writers House is a hub of literary activity at Penn.
The Innovation Engine
How a new gift to the Creative Ventures initiative at Kelly Writers House is fostering artistic creativity
Published: August 23, 2022
Writers from all over the world come to give readings, students attend their writing classes, and members of the Penn community frequently attend workshops. But Kelly Writers House isn’t just a literary hub—thanks to the Creative Ventures initiative, it’s a laboratory for all kinds of creative and artistic experimentation.
Creative Ventures recently received a $1 million gift to establish the Wolpow Family Support Fund for the Kelly Writers House. The fund will allow the Kelly Writers House to continue its important work promoting innovative projects through Creative Ventures and supporting students through RealArts Internships. It’s the latest gift from Marc B. Wolpow, W’80, PAR’14 and Robin S. Wolpow, PAR’14, who have been supporting Creative Ventures since 2011 and the RealArts Internships since 2015. And they’re now joined by their daughter Nina Rosborough, C’14, in this dynamic philanthropy.
What makes Creative Ventures so powerful is the incredibly broad nature of the initiative. When students have ideas for interesting projects, whether literary or artistic, the Writers House can support them. Ideas that emerge from the dynamic conversations between students, faculty, and visitors to the Writers House can become reality through the support of Creative Ventures—whether it’s a zine library, a culinary night, or a sustainability project.
Performance artist Tammy Faye Starlight portrays 1960s rock legend Marianne Faithful.
Journalist and film critic Elizabeth Weitzman (left) discusses the film industry during an event titled “Renegade Women in TV and Film.”
Sociologist Nina Johnson (left) and poet Emily Abendroth (right) discussed carceral justice during City Planning Poetics.
“We Are Here,” an astral photography art exhibition held in the Brodsky Gallery, included a panel on art and science during its opening.
“I think of it as an innovation engine,” says Jessica Lowenthal, Director of the Kelly Writers House. “It’s a way for creative people and creative ideas to find a home.”
Through Creative Ventures projects, students have the opportunity to explore their interests independently, outside of the classroom. Lowenthal notes that the process of thinking, learning, and creating for each project is just as important as the final outcome.
“It’s always been the case at universities that the times and spaces between and among the courses and classrooms are where many of our students’ best and most integrative thoughts occur,” said Al Filreis, Kelly Family Professor of English and Faculty Director of the Kelly Writers House. “The Writers House is just such a space—an incubator, and intellectual and aesthetic point of convergence.”
Mary Osunlana, C’20, knew she wanted to be a part of the Writers House community before she even started her first year at Penn. During pre-freshman week, she wandered in and knew that it was where she wanted to be.
During her time as an undergraduate, she participated in a number of programs that were funded by Creative Ventures, but the one she describes as the most meaningful was a waist bead workshop she created with a friend. Waist beads are strands of beads made from various materials that are worn around the waist by women in many West African cultures. They’re also a way for Black women in the diaspora to connect to their heritage and cultural practices. Participants at the workshop learned about the significance of waist beads and created their own, while enjoying a meal of Senegalese food.
Creative Ventures also funded projects that took Mary to London to photograph skateboarders and to southwest Nigeria, where she is from, over spring break, to research the intersection of religious beliefs in the region.
“The projects I created allowed me to think in a tangible way about my ideas, inspirations, and curiosities,” Mary says. “And that’s something I brought with me out of Penn.”
Mary also participated in a RealArts Internship where she worked for Don Cheadle’s production company. She’s now a photo editor for A&E Networks.
CAPTION: Davy Knittle, GR’21, started the City Planning Poetics series as a way to pursue his interdisciplinary research in literary studies and urban studies.
Through Creative Ventures, graduate student Davy Knittle, GR’21, was able to create the City Planning Poetics reading series. Over the course of six years, Davy was able to put poets in conversation with geographers, urban planners, and other academics about urban issues that were important to them in front of an audience of Penn students, scholars, and Philadelphia community members.
Davy’s own research at Penn for his PhD in English was focused on what literary studies could bring to urban studies when considering change in cities.
“What I got to do was work that out in real time through City Planning Poetics,” he says. “It was a laboratory for my scholarship, which is a really special thing to be able to do.”
Above all, Creative Ventures gives the Writers House the power to be an incubator for ideas. “It allows us to say ‘yes,’” says Lowenthal. If a student has an idea, the Kelly Writers House can make it a reality through the power of philanthropy.
