Zoë Greggs, 30, of Mt. Airy, recently won a Leeway Foundation grant for Greggs’ work in the community. Greggs, who identifies as "a Black, queer nonbinary artist, curator and nonprofit administrator,” serves as a development manager at BlackStar Film Projects.

Greggs grew up in Central Pennsylvania in a small suburb called Mechanicsburg. The nearest city is Harrisburg, about 20 minutes away. Greggs graduated from The University of the Arts in 2017 with a BFA degree and a concentration in printmaking and book arts. 

Below is the Local’s Q&A interview with Greggs, which was lightly edited for space and clarity. 

How and when did you become interested in printmaking and book arts?

I began college under the belief that I would become an illustrator. I had spent all my life since I was a small child drawing with crayons, colored pencils and markers. Studying illustration felt like a natural extension of my creative interests. But after two years in the program, I found myself feeling stifled and somewhat frustrated with my portfolio.

I first considered transferring to another college in Philadelphia but didn't find the right programmatic fit for me. I turned my attention back to UArts and stumbled across the University's printmaking and book arts department. It ended up being a perfect fit! My printmaking professors were kind, attentive and deeply supportive of their students' work and creative explorations. There is a sort of meditative space you can enter as a printmaker. Now looking back, I am grateful for the experience of having so much time in a studio and access to dedicated mentors.

For how many years have you lived in Mt. Airy?

My wife and I have lived in East Mt. Airy since 2020. I arrived in Philadelphia in 2013 for school and moved around the city before I landed in Mt. Airy. I really love Germantown and Mt. Airy.

What do you do at BlackStar Film Projects?

I am currently a development manager at BlackStar Projects. I began working at the organization as an executive associate in 2023.

How long has BlackStar been running film festivals?

BlackStar Projects is a Philadelphia-based nonprofit organization that creates the spaces and resources needed to uplift the work of Black, Brown and Indigenous artists working outside the confines of genre. We produce year-round programming such as our annual BlackStar Film Festival, William and Louise Greaves Filmmaker Seminar, Seen (our journal of film, art and visual culture), Philadelphia Filmmaker Lab and much more.

The BlackStar Film Festival was first started by our CEO and founder, Maori Karmael Holmes, in 2012. One of our most beloved programs is our annual BlackStar Film Festival, a multi-day celebration of the visual and storytelling traditions of the global majority. In 2024, we had 17,000 festival participants and screened 96 films. Folks arrive at the festival from all over the world.

What was the amount of the Leeway Foundation grant?

The generous Leeway Foundation Arts and Culture Award was $2,500 in total. Leeway supports women and trans artists and cultural producers working in communities at the intersection of art, culture and social change. They are another organization that is so deeply vital to the arts and culture fabric of Philadelphia.

How will you use the grant?

"The Black Immortality Project" seeks to challenge and deconstruct our Westernized understanding of death and mourning through the Black American lens. The multidisciplinary exhibition will feature interviews with Black funeral directors, death doulas and historians. The exhibition will uplift local graveyards as historical sites, build community and celebrate the tools grieving Black folks have developed to resist state violence.

How did you feel when you found out you had won the grant?

It was truly a dream of mine to receive a Leeway Foundation grant award. I had the wonderful support of a mentor and friend, who championed me to apply. I am incredibly grateful to her as she was a sort of a creative doula, helping me to disentangle my knotty ideas.

Can you explain a little bit about the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Feminist Futures, which you participated in three years ago?

The Feminist Futures Hackathon was a beautiful initiative created by members of the "Make the Breast Pump Not Suck!" collaborative. The month-long virtual hackathon brought together folks from a wide array of disciplines to design interventions for four tracks: reproductive justice, the care economy, abolition and environmental justice.

What is the best decision you ever made in your life?

As cheesy as it sounds, the best decision I ever made was to propose to my now-wife on a pebbled beach in Seattle, Washington.

What is the best advice you have ever received?

Some of the best advice I ever received was to not equate your worth to your production. I was reminded a year ago that "failing" is not inherently a negative thing. Instead, it is an opportunity to learn more about yourself and what may need to shift. Not everything works out, and that extends to projects, relationships, etc. You gain some semblance of "nutrients" from a failed experiment, and those lessons can become the fertilizer for something greater.

For more information, visit blackstarfest.org.