Be Holding

GDLOFT partnered with Girard College on Be Holding, a world premiere musical performance supported by a prestigious grant from The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. Our role was to craft the project’s visual identity and design a dedicated Squarespace microsite that would reflect and amplify the creative and cultural impact of this powerful work. Be Holding is inspired by poet Ross Gay’s book-length poem of the same name, which meditates on Julius “Dr. J” Erving’s legendary lay-up during the 1980 NBA Finals. That singular moment becomes a portal for exploring themes of Black genius, beauty, memory, and resilience in the face of ongoing racial injustice.

 

Commissioned and produced by Girard College, Be Holding was developed over a multi-year residency. The project brought together Gay, composer and MacArthur Fellow Tyshawn Sorey, experimental music ensemble Yarn/Wire, poet-performers David A. Gaines and Yolanda Wisher, and director Brooke O’Harra, in close collaboration with Girard students.

 

GDLOFT created a bold, elegant wordmark and identity system that visually reflects the project’s themes and multidisciplinary nature. We also designed a Squarespace microsite that serves as a digital home for the performance, showcasing the collaborators, the process, and the broader vision behind the work.

 

Girard students were deeply engaged throughout—as performers, designers, documentarians, and stage managers—making Be Holding a living example of what’s possible when educational engagement meets creative innovation.

 

This project exemplifies GDLOFT’s belief in design as an integral part of storytelling, and our commitment to partnering with mission-driven institutions to bring meaningful, community-based work into the spotlight.