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205 West Tulpehocken Street
Philadelphia, PA 19144
215-842-0428
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www.buildabridge.org
Press Contact: Rita Calicat, 215-589-8491

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BuildABridge At City Hall

My Home is in My Heart: An Artistic Inquiry
of Place, Home and Belonging by Philadelphia’s Children

Philadelphia – Art In City Hall, part of the City of Philadelphia’s
Office of the Arts, Culture and the Creative
Economy presents a student exhibition by BuildaBridge
in historic City Hall celebrating the artistic expressions of
local children: My Home is in My Heart: An Artistic
Inquiry of Place, Home and Belonging by Philadelphia’s
Children. The exhibit runs from March 7 – April 29, 2011, fifth floor
City Hall, NE corner. A program and performance open to the general public is scheduled for Thursday March 31 in Conversation Hall, Room 201 with a reception to follow on the fifth floor, NE corner.

The art exhibit highlights children’s creativity and interpretations of
geography, home and community through visual art, photography, and 3-D installations. The artwork expresses the insight of those with the greatest need in our communities – our children residing in the city’s transitional housing and experiencing a time of homelessness.

BuildaBridge’s Community Programs consist of three distinct efforts:
Discovery, which sends teams of artists
to emergency and transitional housing partners to provide educational
after school arts classes; Healing which sends clinical arts therapists to 2 -3 sites for specific therapeutic support; and, Artology which recruits students from Discovery and Healing programs and provides an educational summer camp exploring art, biology and environmental concerns.

Dr. Vivian Nix-Early states that, ‘Research has proven the many
benefits of creativity and art-making to health, emotional wellness and
learning. Creating is a form of play, and engaging regularly in both of
them strengthens our problem-solving and adaptive capabilities – our
resilience. Through art-making, one of BuildaBridge’s goals is to facilitate resilience in the children we work with.”

BuildaBridge is a nonprofit arts education and intervention organization
that engages the transformative power of the arts to bring hope and
healing to children, families, and communities in the tough places of
the world. BuildaBridge spans barriers of race, class, faith, and culture
to promote holistic personal, family, and community development
through art-making that uses trauma informed, hope-infused and child
centered methods. Committed to principles of love, compassion, justice,
reconciliation, and service to others, BuildaBridge trains and connects
artists with those in greatest need. For more information,
visit: http://www.buildabridge.org/, join us on www.facebook.com,
or follow us on www.twitter.com. Visit: http://www.buildabridge.org/

The exhibitions in City Hall are a collaborative effort between the City
of Philadelphia’s Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy
and the arts community. They are supported by an independent City
Hall Exhibitions Advisory Committee made up of arts professionals and
private citizens. In addition to Art In City Hall’s juried exhibits for
professional artists, other public spaces in City Hall feature artwork from
Philadelphia’s schools, other city agencies, local non-profits, and
community arts organizations on a rotating basis. For more information,
visit: www.phila.gov/artincityhall or join us on www.Facebook.com/artincityhall and www.facebook.com/creativephl.

The mission of the Office of Arts Culture and the Creative Economy is to
improve access to the arts for both residents and visitors and to expand arts education for young people. The Office also coordinates with relevant City agencies to unify the City’s arts efforts, oversees all the City’s arts programs, and serves as a liaison between the City’s many cultural institutions. Furthermore, the Office supports the growth and development of the City’s arts, culture, and creative economy sector, by promoting public and private investment. In addition to the Office’s focus on the nonprofit arts sector, it also focuses on the many aspects of the larger arts and culture industry including individual artists, design industries, music clubs and other entertainment ventures.

City of Philadelphia, Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy

Philadelphia, PA — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Philadelphia Zoo are sponsoring an Earth Day poster contest for students in grades kindergarten through 12 in EPA’s mid-Atlantic region, which includes Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.

Students are invited to submit hand-created drawings on plain letter-sized paper using markers, colored pencils, crayons, pens or paint. Computer-generated images will not be accepted. Students can choose one of the three themes:

1) Protect Habitats, Endangered Species
2) Help Protect the Earth from Climate Change
3) The Meaning of Earth Day

Entries will be divided into four categories: K-2nd grade; grades 3-5; grades 6-8; and grades 9-12. The top three winners in each category will receive a combined prize package from the EPA and Philadelphia Zoo. Winning entries and others will be displayed at the Philadelphia Zoo on April 22-24 as part of EPA’s 40th anniversary Earth Day celebration. The posters will later be displayed at the EPA’s Public Information Center in Philadelphia. Entries must be postmarked no later than March 1 and should be mailed to:

Earth Day Poster Contest (3PA00)
U.S. EPA Region 3
1650 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103

The back of the poster should include the competition theme, name, age, school name, grade, parent/guardian’s name, address, telephone number and email.

For more information, visit: http://www.epa.gov/region03/earthday/2010_poster_contest.PDF or call (215) 814-5100 or email
R3 40yearsofEarthDay@epa.gov.