This commissioned work explores key moments in the history of segregated swimming, as well as the work and achievements of Black hero swimming figures, intertwined as two dancing narratives.

The content used in this work was developed by, or in collaboration with, Habithèque Inc., Dr. Jeff Wiltse, Author of Contested Waters: A Social History of Swimming Pools in America, and Bruce Wigo, J.D., curator and former CEO (retired) of the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

Dylan B. Caleho is a queer black artist living in Philadelphia, working primarily on comics and editorial illustrations. She is a graduate of Moore College of Art & Design and the recipient of a Moore Presidential Scholarship, a Visionary Woman scholarship, and an AMDG 1933 Foundation scholarship.
dylanbeedoodles.artstation.com

Playwright, director and educator James Ijames has appeared regionally in productions at The Arden Theatre Company, The Philadelphia Theatre Company, The Wilma Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Mauckingbird Theatre Company, and People’s Light and Theatre. James’ plays have been produced by Flashpoint Theater Company, Orbiter 3, Theatre Horizon, Wilma Theatre (Philadelphia, PA), The National Black Theatre (NYC), Definition Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre (Chicago, IL) and Shotgun Players (Berkeley, CA), and have received development with PlayPenn New Play Conference, The Lark, Playwright’s Horizon, Clubbed Thumb, Villanova Theater, Wilma Theater, Azuka Theatre and Victory Garden.

www.jamesijames.com

Featured Voices:

Rhonda Harper: Founder of Black Girls Surf

Sabir Muhammad: First African-American to win a medal at a major international swimming competition

Dr. Angela Beale Tawfeeq: Director of Education and Research for Diversity in Aquatics

Simone Manuel: First Black female swimmer in Olympic history to win an individual gold medal in swimming

Jim Ellis: Famed Philadelphia swim coach, founder of PDR Swim Club

Coach Malachi and Olivia Cunningham: Founders of former Philadelphia Tigershark Swim Club

Dr. Jeff Wiltse: Author of Contested Waters: A Social History of Swimming in America

Led by its founder, Victoria Prizzia, Habithèque works as a cultural producer, creating exhibitions, public interventions and digital resources to fulfill a critical need: educating the public about nature-based solutions to some of the planet’s most critical challenges.

www.habitheque.com

The Greenhouse Media (GhM) team brings creative and technical savvy to collaborative, socially and historically engaged projects, including media-based installations, museum interactives, public artworks, documentary films, photographs, and more.

www.greenhousemedia.com

Film producer, director, and photographer Cathleen Dean creates innovative work inspired by her experiences in South Florida. Dean’s surroundings help fuel her work, and her subjects, translated through her storytelling abilities, engage her audience to ask questions about their surroundings. Donations for the expansion of her film, Wade in the Water: Drowning in Racism, can be made at: https://gofund.me/30e99d0b

cathleendean.com

This work explores: image reflections in water; animation techniques that involve the shape and saturation of water on textured surfaces; and the animation of real objects—swim goggles, bathing suits, bathing caps—while drawing/animating the shape of a body inhabiting them. This series also incorporates the recordings of interviews of African Americans of all ages, and their experiences and interest in swimming.

Lowell Boston is an animator, filmmaker and college professor who lives in Collingswood, New Jersey. Born in upstate New York, he discovered an interest in art from an early age. Pursuing a love of drawing, writing and works of the imagination, Boston attended University of the Arts as a double major in live-action filmmaking and animation. In 1991, he earned his MFA in Experimental Animation from the California Institute of the Arts.

https://www.uarts.edu/lowell-boston