Independence Arts Studios offers Spring Session Classes

Independence Arts Studios (IDS), an inclusive artist studio offering classes for persons of every age and ability, has their new spring line up available.  Located at 714 Market Street, IDS offers the following opportunities.

Wheelchair Sculptured Art
Thursdays 1-3 pm, April 29th to June 3rd
Michael Mantis, master jeweler, will be lead students to create an assemblage of various wheelchair parts, put together to create a single piece of arts without welding.

Cast Making for Faces
Tuesdays 1-3pm, May 4th to June 8th
Barbara Gregson, theater artist, will guide students in engaging live models to make plastered casts of the faces of some of the Liberty Resources consumers.

Cost for non IAS members  is $40
Cost for current IAS members is $35

For more information or to register, contact the IAS at 215-634-2000 x333 or send and email to info@artsbuyias.org

Travel the globe without leaving Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania’s Museum of Archeology and Anthropology

Travel the globe without leaving Philadelphia by visiting the University of Pennsylvania’s Museum of Archeology and Anthropology. Conveniently hop from continent to continent as you stroll through fascinating collections of Asian Art, Egyptian Mummies, and Roman statues.

One of the most stunning features of the museum is the Harrison Rotunda that houses the museum’s collection of Chinese Art. The dome of the rotunda measures ninety feet across and ninety feet from the floor and is one of the largest unsupported masonry domes in the nation. While you’re there make sure to gaze at the breathtaking Crystal Ball that belonged to Empress Dowager Cixi in the center of the gallery. At one point in our history, this ball was stolen and found in a pawn shop in Philadelphia where it was safely returned back to the museum!

Adjacent to the Harrison Rotunda are the Lower Egyptian Galleries, which house the museum’s collection of mummies, sarcophagi, and artwork from the time of the Pharaoh’s. Brave patrons can navigate the corridors of the dimly lit gallery and gaze upon the remains of ancient mummies and learn about the mummification process.

For the classics buffs, the museum’s collection of Greek, Etruscan, and Roman art is fantastic! Travel through time and observe how these ancient civilizations influenced and inspired each another through their art and technology.

In addition to their excellent permanent collection, the museum also features unique touring exhibits that feature work produced locally, nationally, and internationally by archeologists, anthropologists, and community groups. Righteous Dopefiend, one of the touring exhibits currently on display until December 2010, features the work of anthropologist Philippe Bourgois and photographer-ethnographer Jeff Schonberg and their documentation of the daily lives of homeless drug users, drawing upon more than a decade of fieldwork. This moving exhibit cannot be missed and is a profound look and call to action to help address the needs and challenges facing people who are homeless and addicted to drugs.

The museum offers both self-guided and guided tours of their collections, and Art-Reach members can request tickets by submitting a museum request form to the Program Department. Guided and Self-Guided experiences can be arranged Tuesday – Friday 10:00am-3:30pm and Sunday from 1-5pm. During the summer months parts of the exhibit are not air conditioned, making spring the perfect time to plan your excursions around the globe without ever leaving your back yard! Please see the UPENN Museum’s listing on the Art-Reach museum roster for more information about visiting the museum and contact the Art-Reach Program Department for help planning your outing.

-by Matt Bryan

Event #3: The Ongoing Adventures of Philadelphia Academies Students’ Cultural Treasure Hunt

The latest session of the Cultural Treasure Hunt began at the four-star Crowne Plaza Hotel at 18th and Market streets at 4:30 pm.  Deneen Cooper, Banquet Manager and Board Member of Philadelphia Academies, provided an all-access pass to the facilities at the 445-room hotel. In addition, Deneen shared her college experiences and tips for upscale service with the students. She led a group through an exercise of setting a table for a formal banquet event, with the proper placement of multiple spoons, forks and knives. A student named Natalie told me, “Now I know where everything goes and why it goes there. It makes sense to me”.  Natalie helped set a “blank table” and folded crisp napkins, using a previously set table as a guide for completing the task. By the time she and her fellow students finished setting the table, it was ready for a food magazine photo shoot.

Our group toured the hotel laundry facilities, ballroom/conference rooms, met the hotel’s General Manager Bob Cosgrove, and observed Chef Jon Bauer in the kitchen. The level of behind-the-scenes access was very comprehensive and impressive given the fact that the hotel was filled to capacity on the day of our visit.

Having worked up an appetite during the tours, the group reconvened in the dining room for dinner.  In keeping with the elegant surroundings, Chef John presented a multi-course meal with an extra special surprise: an intermezzo course (palate cleanser) of lemon sorbet served on an orange slice, which refreshed the diners between the salad course and main course. This was truly dining at its finest! I stopped by a table from George Washington High School to gauge the students’ reactions to the menu, and everyone gave their approval. Markita and Quadirah particularly liked the lemon sorbet.

Chef John and Sous Chef Peter provided dessert via a live culinary demonstration of Bananas Foster on Iced Lemon Pound Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream.  All the students gathered around while Chef John flambéed the sliced bananas in rum with a giant whoosh of flame and loud “oooooohs” from the group. The fire burned off the alcohol, but left a pleasant sweet flavor on the bananas. Chef talked thorough the recipe and the need for safety when flambéing. Dessert was a nice finale to the first half of the treasure hunt experience, and the students were fueled up and ready to travel to Allens Lane Theater in  Mount Airy.




Art Reach Program Manager Matt Bryan greeted the students at the theater. Matt coordinated the logistics of the cultural portion of the Treasure Hunt, and likes the fact that the activities take place after classes “because the students seem more relaxed after their day at school is finished”. 

During the bus ride, on the way to the theatre, students sang “school bus” songs like “Old MacDonald” with updated lyrics. I used the time to get to know some of the teachers a little better.  NEWSFLASH:  the teachers and Philadelphia Academies staff really love their students!!  They talked about their individual students’ aspirations and dreams, and how activities like the Cultural Treasure Hunt truly make an impact on student learning and interest in career development. One of the teachers, Joanne, mentioned the fact that she was currently teaching the Harlem Renaissance.  She continued, “The play we will be seeing tonight Blues for an Alabama Sun, is timely for our class”.

Allens Lane Theater is a relatively small venue that accommodates about 75 people in cabaret style seating at small round tables. This intimate space heightens the impact of the dramatic action taking place on stage, and the students were very attentive during the performance. At the end of the performance, they asked questions during a talk-back session with Director Kaleo Bird and cast members.

One student asked the cast “Do you really dress like that in real life?” The actor responded no, and explained the conventions of stage productions, mentioning the costume designer and the research she conducted regarding the period garb worn by the actors. An interesting revelation came about when a student asked about the actor’s personal lives and professions. As it turns out, a few cast members work with in the Philadelphia School system during the day and act in the evening. The cast instilled in the students the value of having dreams, pursuing passions, and find a way to do what you love, even if it is not as a full time vocation.

With the conclusion of the talk-back session, it was time to head home.  I thought back over the events of the evening and something that Philadelphia Academies’ Corvette Kittrell said at dinner really resonated with me: “ …we know that we have a direct impact on [student] college decisions. The behind-the-scenes tours also have a big impact on helping to make informed choices on career decisions”. In light of that comment, I give Cultural Treasure Hunt Event #3 a big “Mission Accomplished”!
 
The fourth event in the Cultural Treasure Hunt is scheduled for April 8, 2010.  Check back for an update on this exciting initiative.

-by Maureen Zug

Happy Brithday Andrew Lloyd Webber

English Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber was born today, March 22, in 1948 in London, England. His father William Lloyd Webber was an organist and composer. His younger brother Julian Lloyd Webber is world-renowned cellist.
   
He has worked with lyricist Tim Rice on several occasions. Their first major collaboration was the musical The Likes of Us. He also worked with Rice in 1968 on the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat and in 1970 on Jesus Christ Superstar. He worked with Alan Ayckbourn on the musical comedy Jeeves and Wooster. In 1976, he teamed again with Tim Rice for the musical Evita. In 1981, he composed his musical Cats, which ran for 18 years on Broadway. In 1986, he composed the musical The Phantom of the Opera which is the longest running show on Broadway.

He married his first wife Sarah Hugill on July 24, 1972. They had two children together and were divorced November 14, 1983. He married his second wife and the star of Phantom, Sarah Brightman, on March 22, 1984. They divorced on January 3, 1990. He married his third wife Madeleine Gurdon on February 9, 1991. They have three children together.
   

He has received a number of awards for his work. They include: six Tony awards, three Grammy awards, an Academy award, seven Olivier awards, and a Golden Globe. He was knighted in 1992. In 2006 he received the Kennedy Center Honors along with Zubin Mehta, Dolly Parton, Steven Spielberg, and Smokey Robinson.

-by Mike Endres

A Vegetable Paradise in Camden, Amazonian Flying Rainbows, and a Giraffe from South Africa Made of Orchids

If you are a volunteer with Art-Reach, you may get lucky and get to travel around the world (yes – this is a shameless plug for volunteering at Art-Reach with the Ambassador Program!) with some fabulous people.

Early in March, I got lucky, and went to India, South Africa, the Netherlands, Germany, Singapore, Brazil, and Camden, New Jersey, with Jordie, Tara, and Marc, three awesome students from the HMS School for Children with Cerebral Palsy, located in University City. Accompanying us were their three indefatigable recreational therapists, Charlie, Rich, and Karen.

HMS students infront of 28-foot-tall hot-air balloon that 
greeted guests as they entered the event.

We did this in 90 minutes flat. How, you ask? Art-Reach and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) made our trip possible by arranging tickets to attend the 2010 Philadelphia International Flower Show, the world’s largest indoor flower show that showcased, well, the world! In fact, PHS has been an Art-Reach arts partner for a number of years, annually pledging tickets that enable community access to their event. In turn, Art-Reach manages all community outreach for PHS. "Through their (PHS) partnership, we were able to provide experiences to more than 270 people who would not otherwise be able to access the flower show," explains Stephanie Borton, Art-Reach Associate Director.

PHS runs the world’s largest indoor flower show, and this year they showcased 79,000 freeze-dried flowers on the 28-foot-tall hot-air balloon that greeted guests upon their entrance to the event. Charlie stated that “Art-Reach gives our students many more opportunities to explore and experience the community.” And in this case, the world! "We also want the community at large to be socially aware of young adults with disabilities,” he explained.

We saw a 12 foot tall, life-size pastel floral elephant from India; tulips, tulips, and more tulips from the Netherlands; and ethereal white calla lilies suspended in blocks of “ice” dangling from the ceiling in an urban, post-apocalyptic setting. Very post-modern, and much to the taste and delight of Tara!

Jordie maneuvered her wheelchair so adroitly through the crowds, anxious to get to each more spectacular-than-the last exhibit, that Charlie had a hard time catching up with her. Meanwhile, Marc, with a winning smile, posed in front of the German Beer Garden and raised his water cup in a hearty Prost!

Tara summed up her globe-trotting experience by telling me, via her augmentative communication device, “I am happy to be at the Flower Show. There are so many pretty flowers! Thank you for the tickets.”

I later asked both Bill Hunter, Recreation Coordinator at the HMS School, and Laura Hoover, Senior Public Relations Coordinator of the PHS, about the advantages of being a member and an arts partner of Art-Reach, respectively.

In addition to providing HMS students with opportunities to visit museums and attend the theater, Bill stressed the proactive approach of Art-Reach’s staff in extending invitations to students and their parents and caregivers for cultural events that they normally would not have a chance to experience.

But given our “new economy,” I think Laura succinctly summed up a most relevant reason for social service agencies and arts and culture non-profits to partner with Art-Reach.

While the staff provides “excellent support and customer service” and outsourcing outreach to Art-Reach is “a great help to the Public Relations Department (of PHS),” the bottom line for any organization to be a member of Art-Reach is the bottom line: “Art-Reach will save you time and money,” explains Laura.

-by Kathy Spillman
Kathy is a Special Projects Ambassador with Art-Reach

Black Journey: Time Travel Through Black Trials and Triumphs

Early in March, the Keswick Theatre showcased a moving and telling musical experience of black history and culture, Black Journey. Presented by the American Family Theatre, this musical production has been hailed as an incredible theatric experience, leaving audiences awestruck while imparting the important lessons of black history. The show was geared towards youth audiences, grades 4 through 8, seeking to educate them on the progress of black culture in America through time. Actors Miranda, Michael, and Janine took viewers back to times when Blacks were enslaved in America, kept from riding in the front of the bus during the Civil Rights Movement, and even still facing struggles in present time, including peer pressure and self-identity conflicts.  The performance reached the youth audience on a level to which they could relate, singing to them about important issues that have been endured in the Black community over time while reenacting periodic episodes along the way.

    Cast of Black Journey, actors Miranda, Michael, and Janine

At the March 1st showing, several Art-Reach members were in the audience enjoying the show, including RecCare. This organization provides one-on-one therapeutic recreation support services for persons with physical, mental, and/or emotional disabilities, as well as older adults with related challenges. Jen Loux, one of the RecCare Therapeutic Specialists, attended the performance with a client group; she and RecCare client, Stephanie, took time to speak with me after the show to discuss their experience along Black Journey. When asked what she enjoyed most about the performance, Stephanie noted that the dancing in the show was the same as it was “back then.”

Throughout the show, the actors took the audience along a time capsule ride through both song and dance.  Says Stephanie regarding the performance, “It was interesting.  It was telling history…it was happy.  Most of it was happy.”Stephanie really likes going to performances sponsored by Art-Reach, as long as “they aren’t boring,” of course!  She enjoys being exposed to different types of programming, and has been appreciative of the artistic opportunities that have been made available to her and RecCare through Art-Reach.“Since I’ve been with RecCare,” says Stephanie, “I’ve had more of an open mind.” More specifically, she is careful to note that she doesn’t believe she would have attended certain shows without Art-Reach’s support as well as her friends at RecCare.

RecCare has been very grateful for all opportunities Art-Reach has made available to the organization; this is a perfect example of how sharing the experience has made an incredible impact and difference in a monumental manner!

-by Talia Stinson

Take 2: Philadelphia Academies Students Continue to Pursue Cultural Treasures

On Tuesday March 2, a group of tenth and eleventh graders from the Academies’ Culinary Arts and Hospitality program participated in their second session in the Cultural Treasure Hunt series. 

Students, teachers and Philadelphia Academies personnel participate in the Cultural Treasure Hunt on a volunteer basis after a full day of school or work. The programs usually start in the late afternoon and conclude around 9 pm, illustrating that our students and adult staffers are really passionate in the pursuit of knowledge and culture.

This session of the Cultural Treasure Hunt began with a visit to the Marriott at 12th and Market for a behind the scenes tour of the hotel’s rooms and meeting with two of the chefs on staff. Following the tour, dinner was served in the hotel’s Restaurant, 13. Hector, a Culinary Arts student, reviewed the dinner menu for me: prime rib, broiled tilapia, mashed potatoes, assorted vegetables and cheesecake for dessert.  He particularly “enjoyed the prime rib and visits with the hotel’s 2 chefs [Executive Chef and Assistant Chef].” Hector has high hopes for a career as a chef and perhaps even as an “Iron Chef” competing for culinary supremacy on TV. We will be cheering for you, Hector!  

After dinner, the treasure hunters proceeded to the Arden Theater to see a production of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.  I sat next to Hector and Emily during the performance.   Both students had read the play in English class during the previous school year.  Dressed for a night out at the theater, Emily told me that she “was excited to see the play since I already know the story. Seeing the play will help me understand the story even more and make it real to me.”     

This version of Romeo and Juliet was no ordinary hose and doublet affair!  The stage was set up as a bi-level open platform so that the acting took place all around with the players running up and down the aisles of the theater. I asked soft-spoken Nicholas, who was sitting behind me, what he thought of the play. He answered, “The modern suits and tuxedos worn in the play bring the story to our generation.  There is lots of energy and action in the sword fight scenes -- I read the story last year and I now really understand it when I see it.”

 Just like his classmates, Lucian, tall and thin in a dark blue pullover, had read the play previously.  During intermission, Lucian told me, “Parts [of the play] are funny.  The last time I was in the theater, I was in kindergarten.  These seats are really close to the stage.  I think I would like to come to the theater again”.

Philadelphia Academies’ Harvey Goss told me that the students are “..like sponges”.  “They soak up so much – you can see it in their eyes.  You really can see how art makes a difference in their lives.  Events like these are so worthwhile!” 

After intermission, our group settled in for the second half of the performance with its well-known roller coaster of dramatic action -- the joyful love of Romeo and Juliet, the violence of Capulet-Montague sword fights, the tragic tomb scene, and the grieving reconciliation of Romeo and Juliet’s families. Our cultural treasure hunters followed the action with careful attention and enthusiastically cheered the actors at the end of the performance. 

Thus our Philadelphia Academies’ Culture Treasure Hunters successfully (and sleepily) completed their second segment of their five-part journey. The next part of the Cultural Treasure Hunt is scheduled for March 11, 2010.  Check back around March 22 for an update on the continuing saga of the Philadelphia Academies students’ quest for culture.

-by Maureen Zug