"Greetings from Philadelphia..."

The exhibit "Greetings from Philadelphia" at Tyler's School of Art on August 12th, 2009 was the culmination of a six week summer program, where 23 youth presented to the public the past, present and dreams of their community.

This summer, fourteen youth from South West Philadelphia and nine youth from North Philadelphia were asked to become the curators of their own neighborhoods. The project was a departure from previous years for the UCCP. Aside from incorporating art as the main media form, the project also required organizational partnerships to support the different stages of the project. The Philadelphia Museum of Art, for example, graciously invited the youth to tour the museum providing them with a framework to see and understand art from different perspectives. The Urban Archives at Temple University welcomed the students to tour their facility and made available materials, maps and pictures so that the youth could study the history of their neighborhoods. A collaboration with Laura Deutch’s “Messages in Motion” project gave each one of the youth the opportunity to create a one minute video postcard about his/her life. One of our priorities during the project was to provide the youth with opportunities and access to resources they could use to bring their ideas to life. Our partnership with Myers Recreation Center through the City Lights Coalition provided the youth with support in their own community and encouraged them to see themselves as active and contributing members.

Last but not least, having access to the Temple Gallery at the Tyler School of Art was a great opportunity for the youth. Having their work displayed in a professional and legitimate setting was a particularly important experience, one that allowed them to see the value adults placed on their ideas and work.

Some pictures from the event:

Watch a video postcard from North Philadelphia's Nate about his community:

More postcards from the "Messages in Motion" project are available at http://www.youtube.com/user/ldeutch

Read about the event on North Philadelphia Arts + Culture Alliance's Website.

Art for Social Change - Gee's Bend!

Based on the success of the Art for Social Change workshop series last year, UCCP is proud to work with the Philadelphia Museum of Art again to host a series of workshops for young adults around Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt exhibit.

The series will consist of three wednesday sessions starting on October 22, 2008 exploring storytelling, music, writing and quilting while creating a space to think and talk about positive social change in our communities.

Spaces are still available for interested youth. For more information, please contact Catalina Gonzalez at catalia.gonzalez@temple.edu.

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.