Jaq “Jingle” Masters
Jaq Masters is a black queer femme, a visual artist with concentration in contemporary realism, an actor of medical theater (Standardized Patient) at local medical universities/colleges, a carpenter of masonry and construction/demolitions, an event curartor for an online cooperative consignment/upcycled clothing/accessories store called Rocker's Closet Cooperative, and active member of the Sankofa house. The Sankofa house intentionally houses black residents committed to supporting local QTPOC community through fundraising, facilitating and coordinating. The Sankofa house is part of the nonprofit housing organization known as the Life Center Association (LCA). This landtrust housing organization supports eight other communal homes in the south section of West Philly. The documentary, Faming explores communal living in efforts to mobilize POC groups to take benefit in developmental comings of intentional living. It exams interpersonal relations, conflict resolution and gentrification/ displacement between members of communal houses in the West Philadelphia area.
Awarded Grants
2023
Art and Change Grant (ACG)
Related grantees
Overview
Jaq “Jingle” Masters’ project, Dox Box, is a collaborative printmaking portrait series centering Black Trans people directly impacted by the housing crisis in Philadelphia while highlighting the cultural preservation of the Dox Thrash House. These portraits will be completed by Dox Thrash house members, capturing and archiving the stories of members from the Black Visioning Group and will be showcased at a local gallery event for the purposes of raising awareness about the growing housing crisis in Philly involving Black trans folk while re-familiarizing Philly with it’s printmaking roots.
Partner
2018
Art and Change Grant (ACG)
Related grantees
Overview
Jaq will create Fam-ing, a feature length documentary exploring systems of infrastructure and interpersonal relationships in cooperative living. Using West Philadelphia’s culture of intentional communities, this documentary will explain how these white-washed systems of communal living are rooted in POC tribal hood and have the potential to combat displacement as an act of racial justice. Fam-ing will premiere at local public community centers, supported by panel discussions with the help and promotion of Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance.
