BuildaBridge Images of Artwork Our ar&sts do excellent work with children in transi&on. Unfortunately the ar&sts do not o8en have the luxury of a semester or a year to work with a child living in poverty. Most of the artwork to follow was produced by brave children who at the maximum had 10 classes to complete a project. Because these children are “homeless”, they o8en carry a s&gma and are seldom iden&fied once they leave the emergency shelter. Remarkably they show amazing crea&vity and hope.
Construc7ng the Water Garden: Artology: Water 2010 Artology 2010 added a community service component through collabora&on with the Tookany, Tacony-‐Frankford Watershed Partnership Inc. A8er learning about water issues and researching water loving plants, students (grades 6-‐8) created their own “water garden” art installa&on in an abandoned lot. Together students and staff made over 600 plant sculptures that were installed for 2 weeks. The day of installa&on included a recep&on with par&cipa&on from parents, neighbors, and local community leaders. During the recep&on students rose to the occasion and served as “tour guides” for the visitors. They proudly discussed how they made the installa&on and what they learned through the process. In the par&cipant survey, many students listed this project as their favorite part of Artology.
Artology 2010: Water Originally installed in an abandoned community plot, the water garden was reinstalled at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Children’s Art Wing, September to October, 2010. It received its third installa&on as part of the BuildaBridge invited art exhibit at City Hall in March, 2011. The exhibit was hosted by the Philadelphia Office of Arts, Culture and the Crea&ve Economy. “This is the first &me my son has ever succeeded in any academic class”, stated a mother a8er her son with au&sm a]ended Artology. He a]ended the camp for three years and has graduated to one of the camp’s student leaders.
Artology 2011: Earth Installa7on The two major projects of the Artology 2011 summer camp were public art installa&ons – one, depicted here, at the historic Cliveden House of Germantown in which the 6th-‐8th graders showcased soil layer pain&ngs and “glass vines”. .. (con&nued on next slide). and a second at the nearby Awbury Arboretum in which the 4th -‐5th graders built a “living wall”, installing their clay flower sculptures together with living flowers on ver&cal panels. These pieces brought together principals that Artologists had been synthesizing in their science and art classes, reinforced by field study trips. Both groups got a chance to showcase their work in a public forum, and to be celebrated as contributors to the community. Before this session, I looked at soil as something you put pants in. But now I see it as nutrients for plants and animals. -‐ Autumn. Artology means a lot to me because when I go back to school, I’ll always be pu@ng up my hand in class. – Kendra.
Artology 2011: Earth Installa7on, cont. …and a second at the nearby Awbury Arboretum in which the 4th -‐5th graders built a “living wall”, installing their clay flower sculptures together with living flowers on ver&cal panels. These pieces brought together principals that Artologists had been synthesizing in their science and art classes, reinforced by field study trips. Both groups got a chance to showcase their work in a public forum, and to be celebrated as contributors to the community.
Self-‐Portrait in Silk Screen I visited Julie Rosen’s class on Wednesday to find an incredibly structured and peaceful class going on. The li]le gentleman with the big smile had done a silk screen of himself with a hat on and he was so proud of the results. He was also one of the more disrup&ve students when I visited her prior class. I remarked that he seemed to be having a really good day and his response was, "I always have good days." Enough said. -‐ Magi Ross, BuildaBridge Community Programs Coordinator
Julie Rosen’s silk screen class in a shelter May 13, 2011
The Rib Crib This well-‐known ethnic soul-‐food eatery on Germantown Avenue is one 5th grader’s representa&on of community. It was created during visual ar&st-‐in-‐ residence Charlene Melhorn’s community history project for the BuildaBridge a8er-‐school Discovery program in a Philadelphia shelter. 5th grade visual art class, 2009.
Hope Through the life-‐changing power of the arts, BuildaBridge brings hope and healing to the most vulnerable children living in tough places like this transi&onal housing facility. This 6-‐year old forms a perfect silhoue]e of hope, as she rehearses the steps taught in her a8er-‐school modern dance class for the approaching year-‐end celebra&on. BuildaBridge Discovery Program, 2010
The Owl: Principled Peacemaker ARTMAKING TO PEACEMAKING is a curriculum designed to teach peacemaking skills to middle school students using the arts: crea&ve wri&ng, dance, drama, music and visual arts. The curriculum uses art as metaphor and art as demonstra&on to teach basic peacemaking, conflict resolu&on and nego&a&on skills. The final exhibi&on was a drama&c & musical portrayal of an original tale, the Tale of the Ra]lesnake in the Night”. Its animal characters embodied the five typical responses to conflict. These masks & panels, created by the visual arts class served as the “costumes” and scenery backdrops, respec&vely, for the performance. (See next slide) Art4Peac Camp, 2009. Leah Samuelson, ar&st teacher.
The Teddy Bear: Smoothing & Accommoda7ng Under the direc&on of master ar&st Leah Samuelson, six of the visual arts class students worked in pairs to build three canvases, size 2.5 x 5 feet. Students used wood glue and electric drills to assemble frames and learned to stretch and secure canvas surfaces with staple guns. They brainstormed means of installment of handling from behind before applying coats of primer with rollers on poles. Six other students learned shaping and stapling techniques for forming six mask armatures from empty two-‐liter bo]les, 90-‐pound paper strips, and aluminum foil. Looking carefully at the characters represented in the Ra]lesnake story, they choose an animal-‐iden&ty to create from scratch, referencing pictures for structural informa&on. Paper mache was then applied to armature to form first coat of a `skin´.
The Good Path Northern Cheyenne children ages 8-‐12 designed and pain&ng a mural on the wall of an outdoor shower during a BuildaBridge Arts for Hope Camp in Montana 2010. The image was developed with the children by ar&st Ben Pepka, a Guggenheim scholar who works with Na&ve Americans in Montana. The camp also included indigenous art classes in flute making and doll-‐making all of which incorporated tradi&onal cultural mo&fs and values.
On the Town Charlene Melhorn’s class of 10-‐12 year olds created this self-‐portrait mural on the wall of their shelter hallway as a part of their study of the Harlem Renaissance and the work or ar&st Jacob Lawrence. February 24, 2009