Alliance Postings (13)
FINDING HOME Mural Dedication
Does it make any sense to me why our society allows people to fall thru the cracks? Why the disparity is so great? Is what any of us are doing making a difference at all? A friend said to me the other day that if you put a baby fish in a small fish bowl it won’t keep growing… you must offer the large tank of possibility. He also said that among 10 people we might have impact on one or two, but that those one or two will have impact on that many more, and so on.
With great respect and love I thank you for coming to tonight’s dedication of FINDING HOME. About two years ago, I was invited by the Mural Arts Program to partner with artist, Josh Sarantitis, and our assistants Shelby Donnelly & Al Tull to create this large-scale outdoor woven and painted mural (with other assorted technical details incorporating print, sheet metal & cable). The aim of the project was to shed light to issues around homelessness. Over the course of many months, (awesome) Shelby & I orchestrated weaving workshops at homeless shelters, safe havens and public spaces throughout Philadelphia where we wove the ‘mats’ that became the ‘canvas’ for the 12 ft x 50 ft section of the 2200 square foot mural. Many thanks to many. The goal was to bring people together with and without a home to weave side by side. That, perhaps in the process of making art and conversation together, one would recognize that of ‘mother father sister brother son daughter’ in the other, helping to break down the stigma around homelessness.
This past Wednesday, November 9, Institute Alumni and Faculty Kathryn Panenpacker presented at the FINDING HOME mural dedication, which was the genesis of the homemade with the homeless Arts Street Textile Studio. Like Arts Street Textile Studio on facebook, here, read the full speech on their page, and visit the mural at 13th and Ludlow in Center City.
Stevie French's Lizzie Fox-Top!
Where are they now?
Artist on Call Stevie French volunteered in Philadelphia for the 2010-11 Discovery program. She published her much-anticipated debut picture book Lizzie Fox-Top in 2010. This year, she followed up with providing new design and illustrations for the historic Cousin Ann's Stories for Children. This collection of short stories and poems was first printed in 1848 by the Quaker doctor and abolitionist Ann Preston. Visit Ogopogo Books to learn more, and explore Stevie's personal website, steviefrench.com.
Inquirer highlights Artist on Call play
Artist on Call Donja Love developed the play "How to Kill a Child and a Demon".
The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote a great review on the play and we are happy to share this with our constituents as well.
By Howard Shapiro
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Where are they now?
2004 Institute Alumni Natalie Totire just finished writing another children's book, for which she came upon the story idea while at the 2004 Institute! Learn more here on her site, as she describes the story of six friends who take a journey "where music is virtually the language" of the planet, as well as the influence of the Institute's analysis of 50 Cent's "In Da Club" in her development of the book.
BuildaBridge Teaching Artist performing
BuildaBridge Teaching Artist Maritza Ogarro performs next month with Mascher's Dance.
Originally from Los Angeles, California, Maritza M. Ogarro received a Master of Fine Arts in Dance Choreography and Performance from Temple University. She also received a double bachelor's degree in Dance and African/African American studies from the University of California, Davis. Maritza has danced for Northern California choreographers: Melissa Wynn, Traci Bartlow, Eric Kupers, and Kim Epifano. She has danced for choreographers here in Philadelphia: Dr. Kariamu Welsh, Magira Ross, Marcelo Rueda and Nyama McCarthy-Brown. She is currently an Adjunct Faculty instructor at Temple University, a Teaching Artist for BuildaBridge and one of the Project Coordinators for Rennie Harris Puremovement's Illadelph Legends of Hip Hop Festival. Maritza has a deep passion for teaching, choreographing and performing. She strongly believes that dance is one of the many mediums of art that can be used to culturally enrich and inform people.
Mindy Flexer Art School Open Studio, Mask-Mania, and PABF!
BuildaBridge Teaching Artist Mindy Flexer will be holding her school's Open Studio and Mask-Making Workshop on October 1-2, along with the Greene Street Artists Cooperative in Germantown. BuildaBridge is very grateful for her willingness to support our work and the Painting A Brighter Future (PABF) campaign by creating a BuildaBridge corner in the Open Studio. Go, explore, and learn more about her work - and bring a friend! Don't forget to ask her about her work with BuildaBridge at one of the transitional facilities with which we partner, Women Against Abuse (WAA).
Mindy Flexer Art School Open Studio, Mask-Mania, and PABF!
BuildaBridge Teaching Artist Mindy Flexer will be holding her school's Open Studio and Mask-Making Workshop on October 1-2, along with the Greene Street Artists Cooperative in Germantown. BuildaBridge is very grateful for her willingness to support our work and the Painting A Brighter Future (PABF) campaign by creating a BuildaBridge corner in the Open Studio. Go, explore, and learn more about her work - and bring a friend! Don't forget to ask her about her work with BuildaBridge at one of the transitional facilities with which we partner, Women Against Abuse (WAA).
Fourth Friday Reception at Arts Street Textile Studio
Arts Street Textile Studio: handmade with the homeless invites you to join us on Friday August 26th for our last 4th Friday Reception at 706 South Street! Where I Find Home features gorgeous photographs by Mary Johnson, a Printmaker and Photographer studying at Temple's Tyler School of the Arts. Mary's hauntingly beautiful photographs are of Philadelphia's hidden places - sites where some of our homeless friends find solace. The physical component that ties her photographs together is the nature of the abandoned and decrepit. Some locations are public, some are private, most are unknown. Some are in plain sight to be passed by and ignored, and some are hidden for only the adventurous to discover. Each location, though lonely and unused, carries a story that can only be pieced together by what remains on the inside. Also, we are building a city out of cardboard! Please come to help us by adding a row-home, skyscraper, school, factory or cottage!
Friday, August 26th 5:00 - 8:00pm
Arts Street Textile Studio
706 South Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147
Roots + Wings School of Art
Where Are They Now? 2003 Institute Alumni Ginger Huebner is the founding director of the Roots + Wings School of Art in Asheville, North Carolina. Please find her website here.
Call For Artists
OPPORTUNITY FOR ARTISTS
Beginning Aug.4, the American Red Cross and Threadless are calling on artists and graphic designers across the country to design t-shirts around the theme “Everyday Heroes.” Red Cross heroes donate blood, serve meals and provide shelter for the people affected by 70,000 emergencies and natural disasters that occur every year in the United States, and this challenge helps everyone understand and visualize their importance through design. For more information about how you can get involved every step of the way, visit http://atrium.threadless.com/everydayheroes. Also visit www.redcrossphilly.org