Art for Social Change - A Women's Series

A touring exhibition devoted to the art of Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) will be on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art from February 20 through May 18, 2008. Organized in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Kahlo's birth, it will present approximately fifty paintings from the beginning of her career in 1926 to the year of her death in 1954. The Frida Kahlo exhibition includes loans from over thirty private and institutional collections in the United States, Mexico, France, and Japan, several of which have never been on public view in the United States. Frida Kahlo is the first major presentation of the Mexican artist's works in the United States in nearly fifteen years.

Given the importance of this exhibit and fundamental role of art in society, the Temple Youth VOICES project was more than excited when the opportunity presented itself to collaborate with the Philadelphia Museum of Art in creating a group of young women to participate in art workshops and discussions about identity and the role of women in society.

This group will meet twice a week from January 15th through February 7th at Temple University. Art for Social Change - Women's Series will conclude on February 24th with a visit to the Philadelphia Museum of Art for an exploration of the Frida Kahlo exhibit.The work produced by these young women in the context of our workshops will also be displayed at the museum and to make this project even more exciting, there is a proposal to create a mural which may include pieces of art created by them. The mural, which will be created by artist Cesar Viveros, will incorporate the ideas and concerns of these young women; in a perfect example of how art goes from the very personal -identity- to the very social -a mural in the city of Philadelphia.