Tamaqua native James “JP” Jordan was selected by PA Humanities as one of 50 fellows in the inaugural PA Cultural Exchange.

The 18-month statewide fellowship joins artists, storytellers, historians, educators, organizers, scholars, librarians, filmmakers and other cultural leaders from across Pennsylvania.

Many know Jordan for his work with the “Dear Tamaqua” project.

“It’s hard to say what pushes you over the line to be recognized in this way,” Jordan said of the fellowship, “but ‘Dear Tamaqua’ was an epic project, and it certainly didn’t hurt having it on the (resume).”

According to PA Humanities, PaX is designed to strengthen the work and careers of Pennsylvania’s cultural practitioners while building connections across regions and disciplines. The goal is to create a statewide network for learning, collaboration and shared problem-solving.

A 1995 graduate of Tamaqua Area High School, Jordan lives in Bethlehem, where he is the executive director of Touchstone Theatre.

For the past 22 years, he has been with the theater, serving as artist, director, composer, designer, educator and cultural producer.

“Over that time — and over the theatre’s nearly 50 year history — we have partnered with PA Humanities multiple times, so I receive e-newsletters and announcements from them,” Jordan explained.

That’s how he learned about the inaugural fellowship and decided to apply.

“I am eager to be in dialogue with people working in rural communities, urban neighborhoods, small towns, cultural institutions, grassroots settings and informal spaces across the commonwealth,” Jordan wrote in his application.

He also noted that he’d most like to explore methodology to learn how to grow participation in communities without “burning out” artists, organizations and community members.

“I am also interested in hybridization of practice. I want to place my own tools — devised theatre, site-specific performance, public procession, music, ritual, humor, story-gathering and civic dialogue — alongside the tools of other fellows,” he wrote in his application. “I am curious about what new vocabulary of engagement might emerge when my practice is flanked by archivists, historians, educators, organizers, culture bearers, librarians, writers, media makers, and other artists. I would like to be changed by that exchange.”

Jordan recently learned that he was chosen from among 350 applicants.

“Receiving this kind of validation for the work I’ve been doing for the last two plus decades is incredibly humbling, and I feel so honored to be sitting at the table with a cohort of PA’s top cultural leaders,” Jordan said.

The 18-month PA Cultural Exchange includes $10,000 to support each fellow’s individual practice, along with three cultural exchanges around the state.

Jordan recently met with fellows at the first exchange in Pittsburgh. The group experienced cultural work at places like the Andy Warhol Museum, Rivers of Steel’s Carrie Blast Furnaces National Historic Landmark, Pittsburgh’s Hill District and the August Wilson African-American Cultural Center.

“I’m still processing the awesomeness that was the first PaX meetup,” Jordan admitted.

The fellows will gather in the spring in the Pennsylvania Wilds and next fall in York. Between meetings, PA Humanities will host virtual learning opportunities for them.

“By investing directly in people and connecting them statewide, PA Humanities is growing the relationships and shared capacity needed to create lasting impact in communities across Pennsylvania,” said Laurie Zierer, executive director of PA Humanities

As for Jordan’s work with “Dear Tamaqua,” it began in 2014 when he and Touchstone gathered stories and letters written to the town about the past, present and future. More than 500 submissions were incorporated into a production designed by Touchstone and performed by residents on borough streets.

More recent projects led by Jordan include “America Dreams,” a large-scale interactive exploration of American identity, and “Alice in Informationland,” which was created in partnership with Lehigh University libraries to explore artificial intelligence and misinformation.