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.  

Julie  Rosen’s  silk  screen  class  in  a  shelter  May  13,  2011  

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  

Self-­‐Portrait  in  Silk  Screen  

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.  

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      

On  the  Town