David K. Coleman’s ‘Infinite Possibilities’ (middle) in between two of Conni Billé’s Women’s Liberation series pieces (to the left and right). (Photo: Rasheed Z. Ajamu)

The Germantown Exhibition opened at the Coleman Library on Saturday afternoon, March 28. Showcasing three distinct collections, it celebrates local artists while sharing the neighborhood’s rich history.

The public art display is the newest expression of the library’s call to “Let’s Make Histories!” (LMH!) together. 

Through its “public histories in public libraries” programming, the library has sought creative ways to connect Germantown’s past and present and to increase civic pride. LMH!’s recurring efforts to invite and engage the community at large include collective crafts, workshops, gatherings, and discussion circles.

For librarian and curator Molly Ward, the new artistic addition is a joyful celebration of community members. She said it’s a timely effort that brings levity at a moment when there are “many efforts to both erase and obscure histories.”

The idea for the exhibition began as a desire to fill the “glorious,” as Ward calls it, wall space. Then came the Hyperlocal Heritage grant from the William Penn Foundation and the Philadelphia Funder Collaborative for the Semiquincentennial, which also powers other LMH! programming.

The featured collections include Germantowner Conni Billé’s Women’s Liberation Series, Germantown Potters at Center in the Park, and Germantown-raised artist David K. Coleman’s Infinite Possibilities.

At last Saturday’s reception, GIH learned more about the featured works and heard directly from some of the artists.

Conni Billé’s Liberation Series

What was supposed to be simple research support blossomed into bold black‑and‑white linocuts, which have hung on Coleman’s walls since February.

In conversations with Germantown neighbor Conni Billé, who was not in attendance, Ward says she became increasingly interested in Billé’s stories and began learning about her past with protest art in the late 1960s. Billé, Ward notes, had only recently rediscovered the pieces in a storage area in her home.

“I just thought that’s so crazy that these molds… were just sitting there. History is just sitting and doing nothing,” Ward said.

Now reprinted and enlarged, these striking works are what the librarian calls “resurrected history.”

They depict the personal stories and aspirations shared in women’s liberation–era consciousness‑raising groups, where women examined how society limited their roles and explored how they might change their futures.

These reproduced works hang on the walls and revisit human rights issues for women that were prevalent in 1968–69, such as equality at home and in the workplace.

For Ward, adding the series to the exhibition “seemed like a really delightful and powerful way to kind of bring history to life, almost literally.” Billé did not attend the reception.

Germantown Potters at Center in the Park

Mt. Airy resident Jojo Gass is one of several potters at Center in the Park (CIP). In mid‑2025, she had the “fabulous” idea to ask whether they could display their work in the library.

A little over a year — and some logistical reworking — later, that idea is now a reality. Hung side by side with Billé’s linocuts, Germantown Potters at Center in the Park offers contrast, bringing human perspective and color to Coleman’s second‑floor walls.

Instead of the original plan to show the actual pottery, eight images of the potters holding their creations now loom overhead. While portraits on the surface, Ward suggests they are also informative — serving as artistic documentation.

“They tell us about not only the artists, but the art that they make in the context [and] environment in which they make their art,” Ward explained.

The images were photographed by Aaron Stallworth, who provides free headshots for community members at Coleman and other Free Library of Philadelphia branches.

To best capture their creative essence, Stallworth, who also grew up in Germantown, photographed the potters in the spaces where they create — whether in their homes or at CIP.

At last Saturday’s reception, he told GIH it was a fun and exciting process. “You’re combining the love of the two — the potter and the pot — and putting that in a photo. It’s definitely a creative aspect,” Stallworth said.

For Gass, the moment checks off a bucket‑list wish to be part of an exhibition. She added that it’s a great opportunity for some of the potters who have been honing their craft for decades.

“I would have never imagined that it was going to be this magnitude — that went from an idea to now being on a wall,” she told GIH.

As a Black woman, Gass says the display also answers Spike Lee’s call in Do the Right Thing (1989) to “put some [Black folks] on the wall!” It both honors her enslaved ancestors who worked with clay and serves as a bridge into the craft for the little boys and girls who come into the library.

Germantown Potters Rachelle Aquilla and June Terrell agree that the library is a great place to host these artworks, and that seeing clay transform into whatever you imagine is a remarkable feat requiring dedication and creativity.

For anyone looking to work with clay and pottery, Aquilla offers one key reminder: “Make sure it’s food safe.”

David K. Coleman’s “Infinite Possibilities”

Sitting at the center of the other works is the most colorful of the displays. It’s big, bright, and poses the question: “What’s your Germantown story?”

That’s the question Ward asked artist David K. Coleman to reflect on as he created the piece. Every element in the work contributes a detail to his larger answer.

The butterflies can be traced to Grumblethorpe; the soccer ball, to the Boys & Girls Club on Penn St.; the pencil, to Wister Elementary; the Walkman, to one he used to borrow from his mom — and more.

Together, these moments offer full‑circle validation for Coleman as he reflects on what it meant to grow up in Germantown — a place where seeing so many possibilities gave him the space to imagine who he could become.

“I wanted to capture that feeling of not knowing what I wanted to pursue and having literally infinite possibilities,” Coleman told GIH, relating the art to its title.

He said his greatest hope is that young people who see the exhibition will take away a message to dream big and work hard.

“Whatever that thing is that you dream to do, not only will you do that — you will surprise yourself. And you’ll surpass that in a way that you never thought you could,” he said.

Having the painting in the library means more than the image alone can show, as Coleman remembers visiting the library with his mother during his formative years. 

While he doesn’t recall seeing these kinds of displays as a child, the artist says it’s exciting now to see the walls truly represent the neighborhood.

The Germantown Exhibition is on display during the Coleman Library’s regular operating hours (Mon-Tue, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. & Wed-Sun, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) on the second floor. Neighbors can see it until the end of June this year.

Rasheed Z. Ajamu is Germantown Info Hub‘s engagement reporter. Their work blends service journalism with a place-based lens, tracking how local policy, development, arts + culture, and neighborhood institutions shape neighbors’ everyday lives. They’re also invested in community archiving and public media projects that help neighbors preserve and share Germantown stories.