Filmmaker, writer and curator Maori Karmael Holmes founded BlackStar Film Festival in 2012. Today she serves as chief executive and artistic officer of BlackStar Projects, an organization that has become a cornerstone for Black, brown and Indigenous filmmakers. Each summer, the festival draws thousands of attendees, including artists, scholars, industry executives and audiences who travel to Philadelphia for its screenings, panels and premieres. What started as a single festival has developed into a year-round hub that includes the Seen journal of film and visual culture, the William and Louise Greaves Filmmaker Seminar, the Philadelphia Filmmaker Lab, and a robust lineup of screenings and exhibitions. 

Headquartered in Philadelphia, BlackStar continues to thrive under Holmes’ direction. “Our mission is to combat erasure,” she said. “We focus on filmmakers whose work might not fit traditional industry definitions: the artists who tell stories from the margins, experiment with form and move the culture forward.” 

A native of Los Angeles, Holmes studied at Howard University and American University before coming to Temple for her MFA in film and media arts. She was drawn to Temple’s emphasis on documentary filmmaking and the chance to work with faculty who helped shape her creative outlook, including Michelle Parkerson, Sarah Drury and the late Kariamu Welsh. “They opened my world,” she said, reflecting on how those mentors deepened her sense of film as a social and artistic practice. 

Her career has since been defined by collaboration and community. Among her recent achievements is Terence Nance: Swarm, a 2023 exhibition featuring the work of filmmaker Terence Nance at the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania. 

Through BlackStar, Holmes continues to build networks that connect artists and audiences. “I love getting to put programs together, while connecting filmmakers, audiences and ideas,” she said. “That’s the joy of this work.” 

Temple arts at a glance

2,000+
student artists currently enrolled

15,000+
alumni powering Philly’s arts scene

400+
artistic presentations each year

At The Clay Studio in Kensington, Jennifer Zwilling plays a pivotal role in cementing Philadelphia’s reputation as a leader in contemporary ceramics. As curator and director of artistic programs, she helps to shape the studio’s vision and creative strategy. Since its founding in 1974, the organization has expanded far beyond its local roots, emerging as a national leader where thousands of children, adults, amateurs and professionals learn through its hands-on model of engagement. 

As a Tyler alum, Zwilling earned her master’s in art history in an environment enriched by studio classes that shaped her perspective and underscored the value of curators and artists working together. She later returned to Tyler to teach for a decade, helping students see that artmaking and scholarship go hand in hand. 

After 14 years at the Philadelphia Art Museum, Zwilling joined The Clay Studio in 2014. She helped guide the organization’s 2022 relocation from Old City to its new 34,000-square-foot facility in Kensington, a move shaped by community input and collaboration with artists including Roberto Lugo and Jennie Shanker, who previously taught at Tyler. 

Zwilling’s greatest contribution to Philadelphia is her transformation of The Clay Studio into a model for how art can strengthen civic life. She has shown that clay is more than a medium—it is a force for connection, healing and belonging.  

“So many Tyler people are powering the arts in Philadelphia,” she said. “We’re proud to be Philly people. We know how to work together.”  

For Zwilling, that shared pride is what gives The Clay Studio its purpose: a space where clay connects people, nurtures creativity and helps Philadelphia’s arts community thrive from the ground up. 

According to Zwilling, “Even with everything going on in the world,” she said, “it’s beautiful to see people put their phones down, throw on the wheel and make art.” 

In 2004, Richard Hricko helped change the trajectory of Philadelphia’s arts landscape when he co-founded Crane Arts, a 90,000-square-foot cold storage warehouse transformed into one of the city’s most influential creative hubs. Repurposed at a time when few investors saw potential in North American Street, the building demonstrated that artists could drive neighborhood revitalization long before developers arrived. Its conversion proved artists’ interventions in industrial ruins could become engines of cultural and economic vitality. 

“Our first tenants were Tyler grads,” Hricko said. “It helped them build portfolios, find teaching jobs and stay in the city.” Today, Crane Arts provides affordable studios and gallery space for hundreds of artists and is widely cited as a model for community-anchored cultural development. 

The building also houses Second State Press, a community print shop co-founded by Hricko and Zach Lindenberger ,TYL’03, to give emerging artists ongoing access to professional equipment and workspace after graduation, filling a critical gap for makers who might otherwise have no place to produce work and sustaining Philadelphia’s identity as a thriving center for printmaking. 

Hricko’s influence, however, extends far beyond real estate. After earning his MFA in printmaking at Tyler, he joined the faculty, later serving as associate dean. 

“Temple connected me to Philadelphia,” he said. “It’s one of the best art schools in the country: rigorous, accessible and deeply tied to this city.” 

After more than five decades of maintaining his own professional studio practice, teaching and curating spaces in which others can create, Hricko remains deeply committed to the city that shaped him. 

“The beauty of Philadelphia is that it gives you room to evolve,” he said. “If you stay connected and keep creating, there’s always a place for you here.” 

Reflecting on his career, he credits Temple for giving him both skill and purpose. “Temple taught me to think broadly, to work hard and to give back.”