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The People’s Paper Co-op

Founded in 2014, The People’s Paper Co-op is a women focused, women powered art and advocacy project at the Village of Arts and Humanities in North Philadelphia. The PPC works with formerly incarcerated women to use a variety of art forms to amplify their stories, dreams, and visions for a more just and free world.

Since 2018, the People’s Paper Co-op has collaborated with the Philadelphia Community Bail Fund on their annual Black Mama's Bail Out campaign. Each year, the PPC connects a powerful cohort of women in reentry with artists and advocates to co-create a poster series and corresponding set of exhibitions, parades, press conferences, and events to raise awareness and funds for the campaign. Their posters, prints, and T-shirt sales have raised over $200,000 to free Black mothers and caregivers.

The collaborative work has reached hundreds of thousands of viewers through interactive public art campaigns and a diverse array of exhibitions (from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, City Hall, to detention centers, church basement legal clinics, billboards, and guerrilla wheat paste murals). Their work has been featured by big and small publications, including but not limited to the New York Times, BBC, Refinery29, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and NPR.

peoplespaperco-op.weebly.com
The smiling face of a woman wearing a crown of flowers, with her chin raised in an expression of strength, screen printed on paper made from criminal records. A banner she holds reads,

The People's Paper Co-op in collaboration with Nicole Marroquin and PPC Fellows: Aesha Barnett, Faith Bartley, Latyra Blake, Jamila Harris, Veronica Rex, Lisa Shorter

I Am A Queen Not A Prisoner
2020
Screen print on handmade paper created from criminal records
17 x 11 inches
A woman wearing a hijab with her face turned upward with doves above her, screen printed on paper made from criminal records. Words in a border say

The People's Paper Co-op in collaboration with Kill Joy and PPC Fellows: Faith Bartley, Nashae Cooper, Tinika Hogan, Ivy Johnson, Janaya Pulliam

My Power Within
2021
Screen print on handmade paper created from criminal records
17 x 11 inches
A female figure among purple, pink and green flowers and plants, screen printed on paper made from criminal records.The words

The People's Paper Co-op in collaboration with Molly Costello and PPC Fellows: Faith Bartley, Nashae Cooper, Tinika Hogan, Ivy Johnson, Janaya Pulliam

When I Get My Freedom
2021
Screen print on handmade paper created from criminal records
17 x 11 inches