Fleisher is proud to partner with Pennsylvania Ballet through its Spread Your Wings program. By making dance both personal and accessible, the program encourages creative and personal engagement with dance and storytelling. Through visual arts, choreography, and creative writing, Spread Your Wings hopes to encourage Philadelphians to engage with the arts and movement and, in doing so, shape their own creative experiences.

Teaching artist Marie Elcin and Pennsylvania Ballet soloist Peter Weil created a three-part video series in Fleisher’s Sanctuary space called “If I Could Fly …” In the series, which you can watch below, they explore gesture drawing and creating a mind map before ultimately designing and creating an accessory piece with simple materials. This series perfect for young artists ages 5 to 10 and their families.

Earlier, adults were encouraged to make three-dimensional wings from materials found at home with Fleisher teaching artist and renowned sculptor Darla Jackson. Students also explored a broad history of wing imagery in art across a variety of media, including sculpture, painting, and fashion design. Selected work created in this free workshop, such as the image above, will be on exhibition at Cherry Street Pier later this spring. Learn more about the ballet’s programs by visiting paballet.org.