WE MAKE THE ROAD: a benefit show for Abolition School
Curated by Ella Konefal, KT Pe Benito, Crystal Lamar
Friday, March 6, 2026 - Sunday, March 29, 2026
Opening Reception: Friday, March 6, 2026 6-10pm
Opening Reception: Friday, March 6th | 6pm-10pm
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
Vox Populi Gallery is hosting a fundraiser show for radical Philly education project W.E.B. Du Bois Movement School for Abolition and Reconstruction – lovingly known as Abolition School – in support of their free political education programs.
The show's title pulls from Paulo Friere and Myles Horton's 1990 "spoken book" We Make the Road by Walking, a meditation on the role of participatory learning in the development of radical social movements. That text in turn borrows from Antonio Machado's 1912 poem-turned-proverb Caminante, no hay camino – "Traveler, there is no road / the road is made by walking." Featured artists and activists have brought forward work that engages with the messy, laborious and liberating project of creating a path forward that has never existed before. The work ranges in form; lived-in protest gear from decades past shares space with paintings, prints, photos, and more. The work in the show will be sold through a raffle system with 100% of proceeds going to Abolition School.
@vox.wemaketheroad
@abolitionschool
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Abigail Swoboda (@beetrootstock)
ALLMUD (@allmud.tm)
cort hartle (@corthartle)
Danielle Garcia Tubo (@dlbgarcia)
Dylan Li (@dylanliiii)
Gabrielle Bonder
hannah mack (@xhannah_mack @gardens_of_the_future)
Harumi Miura (@rumi_miu)
Heath Schultz
Isabetta Bleu (@genderlessgod)
jax gilliam (@allflesh_)
Jay Shifman (@SouthPhillyJays)
k (@_____justkjustk)
Kayla Hoskinson
Kim Wilson
Kira Marlow (@brooklynbabecrafts)
Lauren Silver (@ljsilver7)
Lea Devon Sorrentino (@leadevon)
Lee Bird (@littleboybluebirdlee)
LindoYes (@LindoYes)
Lori Waselchuk (@fototornado)
Lorn Ruhnke
M
Martolao (@martolao_)
Masina Frank (@sirenoftheschuylkill)
Matthew Harmony
Mel Bleecker
NACS Philly (@nacsphilly)
No Arena PHL
Olive (@stufffrommybrainn)
Phoenix Satterfield (@phlickery)
PYROSCOPIC (@pyroscopic)
Rachel Kaufman (@fairyhelmets)
Rah Gerg (@rah_paints)
Randall-Grace (@RandallGraceArt)
Ro Adler (@roroadler)
Sarah Kay (@buffythehempireslayer)
Sasha Waters
Shay Overstone (@shaydaylayway)
Stephanie Bursese (@stephaniebursese)
W. Chen
Zahnia Richardson (@jupiterfiasco)
ABOUT THE CURATORS
Ella Konefal (she/her) is an artist across forms whose work engages death and collectivism. She lives and loves in Philadelphia. Lately you can find her tangled up with the Community Boathouse at Bartram’s Garden, People’s Music Supply, thinkingDance, Studio 34 Arts, PhillyCAM, and Abolition School. Ella graduated with honors in Fine Arts, Comparative Literature, and History from the University of Pennsylvania; she’s been learning as much as she can ever since.
KT Pe Benito (they/them) is an arts & cultural organizer and hybrid-virtual events producer navigating access and dismantling dominator culture.
Contending with individualism & elitism in the arts, KT is inspired to forge equity through collective organizing. Across multiple forms of media and social practice, they represent the movement for national liberation & genuine democracy in the Philippines through video installations, facilitating workshops & political education discussions, planning mobilizations, and much more.
They contribute in the long legacy of artists in the anti-imperialist, international mass movement. As a member of Vox Populi Gallery and Anakbayan Philadelphia, they extend their practice as an activist and an artist to help other artists make socio-cultural change through their work and to participate in making economic & political shifts in society. (@playpinay)
Crystal Lamar is a Great Lakes-born, Philadelphia-based interdisciplinary artist working with image and text across spatial considerations. Her recent practice uses comics, textiles, video, and site-specific installation to explore and trouble the relationship(s) between journey and destination. She has exhibited at Microscope Gallery, Vox Populi, and Tjaden Gallery, among others. She holds an MFA in Image Text from Cornell University.
