About Culture Work Studios
Culture Work Studios helps organizations and the people in them to be who they say they want to be. In the face of exhaustion, you will find joy in the work you’re called to do. Our techniques activate creativity, increase self awareness, and cultivate collaboration.
Our consultation firm is based in Philadelphia, PA. On-site support for your organization is available in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. If you’re interested in our service for other locations, we’re happy to discuss. Virtual options are also available.
Our Approach
As adults we often limit ourselves to what we’ve experienced as professionals. At Culture Work Studios, we maximize your effectiveness by engaging many cultural practices, ways of interacting, and types of wisdom that can help your work.
We bring scientific and spiritual practices to increase your presence and ability to change.
Breathing practices can calm nervous systems before difficult conversations. Songs can anchor people through strong emotions and staff transitions. Connecting with nature can clarify what is needed next.
Science & Spirituality
People need play to create holistic change. Play increases pleasure and shifts how you work.
We’ve used balancing activities to examine collaboration and clay sculptures to launch strategic planning. Fun and game sessions create a space where you increase flexibility, a willingness to experiment, and sustainable culture.
After a session, a client shared, “I heard my team laugh for the first time in over a year. We needed that.” Whether you have introverts or extroverts, work online or in-person, your team will benefit from taking play seriously.
Play & Possibility
Witnessing, nourishing, and pruning are essential for growth. We bring light for the spoken and unspoken tensions because transformation happens at the nexus of rawness and safety.
Whatever your individual or organizational history, we build the muscles to stay grounded, see each other, and move through conflict so it becomes generative.
Conflict & Compassion
We’d love to hear about
your organization’s needs
Meet Matthew
Matthew Armstead (they/them) founded Culture Work Studios in 2019 with the hope of helping people welcome liberation now. They bring over 15 years of experience building organizations, developing leaders, and resolving conflict across social and structural power differences.
I cultivate the intersections of justice movements, artistic expression, and collective liberation.
My work is informed by Niyonu Spann of Co-Creating Effective and Inclusive Organizations, the Process Work Institute, and Training for Change, where I serve as a Core Trainer. I am grateful to them and the many teachers who inform their practice.
I have trained, coached, and designed programs for US-based and global audiences, including Southerners on New Ground, Mural Arts Philadelphia, Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association, the Sexual Rights Initiative, B Labs, and the Canadian Labor Council.
My facilitation style weaves in theater practices to create opportunities for people to embody the futures they strive to create. I studied collective creation for an M.F.A. with Pig Iron Theatre Company and University of the Arts, and have a B.A. in Theater and Women's Studies from Swarthmore College.
At home in Philadelphia, PA, USA, I care for and am nourished by my garden, pets, and partner.
