January 14, 2025

An Encyclopedia of Radical Helping: A Collective Reading
February 13, 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Pearlstein Gallery, Drexel University
Register to attend

Pearlstein Gallery and the Drexel University Libraries are pleased to host a collective reading from An Encyclopedia of Radical Helping (Thick Press, 2024), edited by Erin Segal, Chris Hoff, and Julie Cho.

From “abundance” to “zinemaking,” An Encyclopedia of Radical Helping invites the reader to wander through a collection of interconnected entries on helping and healing by over 200 contributors from the worlds of social work and family therapy; art and design; body work and witchery; organizing and education; and more. Privileging co-construction over diagnosis, wisdom over evidence, collective healing over individual cure—yet always blurring categories and embracing contradictions–this world-making collection reveals a pluriverse of helping practices grounded in love and freedom.

Learn more about this sprawling social practice project and the process involved; meet six contributors and hear them read from their contributions.

Contributors in attendance will include:

• Allan Irving (clouds as metaphor, fragments/fragmentation) is a social work educator, a dweller amidst the fragments and chaos.
• Amirio Freeman (food sovereignty) is a writer and interviewer who explores the relationship between humans and our more-than-human kin and the creator of The Down to Earth Deck (Loam, 2022).
• Denise R. Wolf, MA, ATR-BC, ATCS, LPC, LPAT (radical papermaking) is a Registered Board-Certified Art Therapist, Art Therapy Certified Supervisor, Licensed Professional Counselor and Licensed Professional Art Therapist, and Associate Clinical Professor at Drexel University in the Creative Arts and Counseling Art Therapy Program, who practices and teaches in the Philadelphia area of Pennsylvania, United States.
• Erin Segal, MSW, PhD (ongoingness, public benefits, 12-step programs) is a middle-aged mother, wife, daughter, and friend who facilitates groups with elders and, along with Julie Cho, publishes unusual books about care.
• Lindsay Reckson (she/her) (revolutionary mothering) is a writer, professor, and parent. Melaine Malcolm (anti-racism court system) is the Deputy Director of the Department of Research and Planning, where she is responsible for the analysis and reporting of internal and external data ensuring access and accountability for a fair, just, and equitable legal system. 
• Melaine Malcolm (anti-racism court system) is the Deputy Director of the Department of Research and Planning, where she is responsible for the analysis and reporting of internal and external data ensuring access and accountability for a fair, just, and equitable legal system. 

Thick Press, a collaboration between two of the Encyclopedia’s editors, Erin Segal and Julie Cho, makes unusual books about care work and the work of the care.
Web: https://thickpress.com/

Gallery Information:
The Leonard Pearlstein Gallery is located at 3401 Filbert Street in Philadelphia and is easily accessible from Drexel Station at 30th Street.

Web: https://drexel.edu/pearlsteingallery
Instagram: @pearlsteingallery
Contact: gallery@drexel.edu