Plan Philly: Engaging in Urban Dialogue

The 40th Street Artist-in-Residence Program (AIR) awards West Philadelphia artists 1 year of free studio space at 40th and Chestnut Sts. In exchange, each artist shares his/her talents with the West Philadelphia community by leading workshops, teaching classes, exhibiting in the area, etc. Founded by artist Edward M. Epstein in 2003, the program addresses the need for studio space in West Philadelphia, assists artists with career development, and makes the 40th Street area a nexus for visual arts.

AIR is NOW accepting applications for the 2010-2011 round of artists. Applications are due May 10, 2010.

The next round begins August 15, 2010 and runs 1 year.

Please keep reading for application information.

The mission of the 40th Street Artist-in-Residence program is:

• To address the need for artist studio space in West Philadelphia by offering studios rent-free, on a rotating basis, primarily to those artists who reside in/are affiliated with Philadelphia neighborhoods west of the Schuylkill River.
• To assist in the career growth and provide exhibition opportunities for new and emerging artists and those whose work has not been recognized in mainstream venues.
• To enrich the area around 40th Street by placing artists in the neighborhood who share their creative talents with members of the local community.

If accepted to the program, you will be granted a studio space at a site at either 4007 Chestnut or 4013 Chestnut Street for a period of one year, beginning on August 15, 2010 and ending August 15, 2011.

You will be encouraged to use that time to develop your own creative work. In exchange, you will be asked to share your talents with the community through a minimum of 80 hours of outreach work over the course of the year. Examples of this include creating a public installation or holding a workshop or class in the neighborhood. Support will be provided to help you develop this project. In addition, the artists in residence will have opportunities to work together to plan group exhibitions, both of their own work and of their outreach work. Monthly meetings (or more when necessary) will help facilitate this work as well as create opportunities for artists to share ideas and create community.

Please note that the sites are not live-in facilities. The studios are available at all times, but the buildings are shared; you must be considerate of other tenants. The spaces can accommodate a variety of creative activities, including painting, sculpture, installation art, photography, and performance art. Collaborative as well as individual efforts are welcome. Ceilings are high (approximately 12 feet in some areas); rooms range from 100-300 square feet. Some areas have ample natural light, while others have none at all (making them ideal as darkrooms). The studios are not furnished. The buildings also have small yards in the rear that may be used for assembling larger works, or as a place to exhibit sculpture. The spaces have ventilation, running water, and 120- volt AC outlets. However, the facilities will not accommodate highly toxic chemicals, welding, or high-powered electrical equipment. Note also that within the spaces, there is open access to the different work areas; we count on resident artists to show respect for others' property and privacy.

Overall, the 40th Street Artist-in-Residence program strives to create a community of artists who share their talents with each other and with the surrounding community.

To apply, please complete and submit the application that can be found HERE
by May 10, 2010, and email it to 40th.AIR.app@gmail.com or mail it to 40th Street Artist-in-Residence Program, 4007 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19104. Do not drop off materials; there is no guarantee they will be received. We can return application materials if you include a self-addressed stamped envelope.

If you have problems accessing the online application, email us for a PDF or Word document.

Feel free to email 40th.AIR.app@gmail.com with any questions about the program or application process.

Sincerely,

40th Street Artist-in-Residence Program

University City Review: SCI-West Updates

The buzzword for 2010 seems to be "healthy". However the SCI-West target area is faced with some challenging health statistics. For example, more than one-quarter (26.7%) of the adult population in the SCI-West target area is obese and three out of ten children ages 6 - 17 are overweight. Those of you who have followed SCI-West from its inception know that "healthy" has always been one of our themes. This past year SCI-West partners have been working diligently on programs that address health at the neighborhood, household, and individual levels. Our partners are working together to confront the some of the health issues that face West Philadelphia through the "Healthy Homes" program. To date, over 40 families have participated in the program.

SCI-West has partnered with University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Public Health Initiatives, The Netter Center, the Urban Nutrition Initiative and the Lea School to produce the "Healthy Times" newspaper. In this extra-curricular program, 5th grade students produce a newspaper about healthy living. They also learn professional journalism skills, while raising awareness of health, fitness, nutrition and safety in the surrounding community.

Our partners are collaborating with the Philadelphia Police Department and National LISC Community Safety Initiative to jointly tackle crime hot spots in our area with creative intervention strategies. Read more below about these efforts to create healthy and safe neighborhoods.

Finally, we are excited to announce that our partnership with the Mural Arts Program will produce Philadelphia’s first living wall. This is one of four gateways that SCI-West and Mural Arts will partner on in the target area. The living wall will feature year round growing plants. It is scheduled for completion in late April of 2010.

Please take some time to check out the SCI-West blog at www.sciphilly.org and be sure to become a fan of ours on Facebook! We will be posting weekly information on employment and grant opportunities, as well as other information that you need to know.

More Updates:

• People’s Emergency Center’s Bernice Elza Homes, an affordable housing program for young homeless mothers opened on October 21. Bernice Elza homes are located at 3801-11 Brandywine Street. Drive by and check it out!
• Healthy Homes Program helps over 40 families in SCI-West Target Area
• The Enterprise Center CDC has partnered with The Partnership CDC to deliver the Healthy Homes Workshop series. Over 40 West Philadelphia families have learned about prevention and intervention methods to combat unhealthy household conditions. Topics have included asthma awareness and triggers, lead prevention, water quality, and alternative pest management. Future workshops will cover monoxide/radon hazards and fire safety. Each family will participate in follow-up home visits with a Healthy Homes educator to assess risk and proper installation of devices. The Department of Public Health, Integrated Pest Management, National Black Leadership Initiative on Cancer, National Nursing Centers Consortium, and the Philadelphia Water Department have all presented in the series.

SCI-West Gateway COMING SOON!

Philadelphia’s first living sculpture slated for the intersection of 38th and Powelton Ave

Philadelphia’s first living art sculpture is well on its way to becoming a reality in West Philadelphia. Construction documents and structural engineering are complete. The green wall components have been ordered and the plants are already growing. Construction will begin in a few weeks. Look out for it!

10 Slots available for SCI-West Residents to participate in The Partnership CDC’s Green Professional Training program

Learn all you need to know to become a certified green and cool roof installer! The program will kick off in the end of March. Call Alix at the Partnership CDC for more information at (215) 662-1612.

SCI-West Partners with the Philadelphia Police Department

SCI-West in partnership with UCD, PEC, Philadelphia LISC, LISC’s National Community Safety team, and the Philadelphia Police Department began work in 2009 to identify ways to work together to transform crime hot spots in the SCI-West target area. Meetings started with simple dialog, but have resulted in direct collaborations that hold great promise for the area.

Thus far, these meetings have produced a culture where there is a mutual commitment and an emphasis on linking policing with specific neighborhood revitalization efforts. This program supports a strategic collaboration between the SCI-West partners (UCD, PEC, TEC and TPCDC) and the police.

Work has started with several specific crime and community development targets in both the 16th and 18th district. UCD, as the lead for the SCI-West public safety collaborative has completed a crime study that highlights crime and safety issues specific to the SCI-West target area. The study includes information from multiple GIS layers of data sets and includes the tracking of dispatched calls from January 07 through August 09 by location, type and frequency. Data includes info from over 135,000 incidents during this time frame. Together they are working on several areas of collaboration.

The PPD and SCI-West partners have joined forces to look at synergies between public safety and economic development efforts. Joint activities to date include: performing design reviews on PEC’s current and planned housing developments, analyzing how corridor businesses can alter merchandise mix and stores hours to prevent loitering, and planning around how to use a combination of CDC, neighborhood, and police resources to impact a crime ridden block in the target area.

In this week's Multimedia section of Philadelphia Weekly, Stephen Metzger posts a video about the Delaware riverfront, the many neighborhoods it touches and the variety of activities at the river's edge.  Rene Goodwin, board member for Pennsport Civic Association and Communications Director of the Central Delaware Advocacy Group, acts as the tour guide.  Notable sites include Penn's Landing, Yard's Brewery, Penn Treaty Park, Wood Street Steps, the SS United States and Johnny's Hots.

Philadelphia Weekly: Delaware Waterfront

Previous videos done by Metzger include profiles of Baltimore Avenue and Northern Liberties.