{"id":275488,"date":"2026-08-31T00:16:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T00:16:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/275488\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T00:16:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T00:16:21","slug":"coltrane-100-philly-is-giving-away-27000-to-support-local-artists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/275488\/","title":{"rendered":"Coltrane 100 Philly is giving away $27,000 to support local artists"},"content":{"rendered":"

Love Philly? So do we. Let\u2019s be friends. Sign up for the Billy Penn newsletter today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

John Coltrane didn\u2019t just make music \u2014 he could sense a room\u2019s energy, improvise and turn sound into feeling. Now, Philly artists can channel that spirit by creating their own artistic series inspired by Coltrane\u2019s legacy.<\/p>\n

Coltrane 100 Philly<\/a> is celebrating the jazz legend\u2019s 100th birthday \u2014 which would have taken place this September 23 \u2014 by giving out $27,000 in community project grants for local creatives. <\/p>\n

The initiative also includes various arts and jazz programming from now through November, and is being supported by individuals and groups such as Senator Vincent Hughes, Jazz Philadelphia, Creative Philadelphia, Ars Nova Workshop, and WRTI at Temple University.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking for artists who are distinctly celebratory of the glam and grit that Philadelphia possesses,\u201d said vocalist and composer, Laurin Talese, who is involved with the grants. \u201cThat spirit of ingenuity, that spirit of imagination and curiosity, of strong identification with self \u2014 we want to see that in the application.\u201d<\/p>\n

The opportunity is a call to artists who have felt that \u201csoul-tie\u201d with Coltrane\u2019s work and are looking to create something new from his legacy with their own programming.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that too often, folks get fixed into having a position that describes their brand or their personality or their sound \u2014 and that\u2019s completely the opposite of John Coltrane\u2019s ethos,\u201d Talese said. \u201cHe was about pushing boundaries, testing himself and digging deep inside.\u201d<\/p>\n

John Coltrane lived in Philadelphia during his formative years as a young musician. The city became an important part of his personal and professional journey.<\/p>\n

\"\"The John Coltrane House in the 1500 block of North 33rd Street is designated as a National Historic Landmark. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission placed a marker honoring Coltrane in front of the house in 1990. (Billy Penn file photo)<\/p>\n

\u201cHe chose the Strawberry Mansion section of Philadelphia,\u201d said Danielle Allen, project manager for Coltrane 100 Philly. \u201c[There] is such magic. There are great stories being told that have been told for generations in North Philly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anyone from jazz artists, to composers, to visual artists, photographers and more are welcome to apply.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main question is like, is this only for musical performances?\u201d Allen said. \u201cAnd the answer is absolutely not, because Coltrane was so much more than music.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMusic made in Philadelphia communities\u201d<\/p>\n

Applicants can choose from one of two grants. Track A, the Community Voice Grant, is aimed towards artists who are strong in their discipline and already comfortable producing their own show. Recipients are eligible to receive up to $2,500.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Track B, the Curated Series Grant, is for artists who may be a little less experienced, but are looking for a partner and mentor to execute an idea. Recipients are eligible to receive up to $4,500.<\/p>\n

\u201cI joke and say track A is for the Laurin Taleses<\/a> of the world, who, you know, are seasoned performers,\u201d Allen said. \u201cAnd track B is like someone like me who needs Laurin Talese.\u201d<\/p>\n

What these programs will look like is up to the applicant, as long as the work celebrates and honors Coltrane\u2019s spirit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want applications where clearly this person may not have a real passion or knowledge around Coltrane\u2019s work, but they just want to be able to do their show in Philadelphia and have it funded,\u201d Allen explained. \u201cThat\u2019s not what we\u2019re looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grant applications<\/a> are due Monday, Aug. 31 at 11:59 p.m. Allen said that the programming will not only support individual artists, but also give back to different pockets of the city.<\/p>\n

\"\"(Courtesy of Coltrane 100 Philly)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want music made in Philadelphia communities,\u201d Allen said. \u201cYou could be on your porch. You could go to your neighborhood library\u2026 the art gallery\u2026 the rec center\u2026 the church\u2026 Because there\u2019s beauty in the mundane, so that\u2019s exactly what we hope these grants do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery major band in the world has somebody from Philadelphia in their band, and that\u2019s for a reason,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s in the soil. It\u2019s in the water.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Once applications are closed, the Coltrane 100 Philly advisory group will begin choosing finalists. The goal is to have programming up and running by the end of the Coltrane 100 Philly celebrations this fall.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so many different beautiful little curious little corners that often go undershone, for lack of a better word,\u201d Talese said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes as artists, you feel like you\u2019re working in a vacuum, and you feel under-resourced,\u201d she noted. \u201cImagine what would come if they\u2019re funded \u2014 if these artists have even more resources\u2026 and guidance to actually take some little mustard seed of an idea and really flesh it out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Love Philly? So do we. Let\u2019s be friends. Sign up for the Billy Penn newsletter today. John Coltrane…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275489,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[4877,12913,102655,69,71,70],"class_list":["post-275488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-arts","tag-grants","tag-john-coltrane","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}