City of Philadelphia PhiladelphiaMuralArtsProgram Adrienne Webb Katharine Houghton Hepburn Center Intern Summer 2010.

City of PhiladelphiaPhiladelphiaMuralArtsProgram

Adrienne WebbKatharine Houghton Hepburn

CenterIntern Summer 2010

Overview of Summer Internship

Interned with the Special Projects department at Philadelphia Mural Arts. My main project was  the Bryn Mawr 125th anniversary Pioneering Women Mural. 

– Worked closely with lead Muralist Shira Walinsky to create a network for the project.

Organized and coordinated three events to publicize the mural project to community members in West Philadelphia.

– Collaborated with Bryn Mawr's partnership high school

Parkway West, and interviewed 30 women in West Philadelphia about their experiences with education.

I will continue my work on this mural in the fall as a Teaching Assistant for the Kaleidoscope program's  Philadelphia Mural Arts course.

Pioneering Women: a Mural and Oral History Project

The majority of my summer work involved working to promote the project and develop content for the project by attending community events,listening to local women's oral histories and networking with community stakeholders.

This fall students, faculty and Alumni from Bryn Mawr College, Parkway High school and the community surrounding the City of Philadelphia's Health Center number four will work together to complete a mural celebrating pioneering women and women's education

Clockwise: Ella Baker, Civil Rights Activist, and Mill Creek Communit y Member Beverly Braxton. We interviewed Ms. Braxton and Researched Ms. Baker for the Project.

City of Philadelphia Public Health Center 4 

This is the mural site for the "Pioneering Women" Bryn Mawr College 125th Anniversay Mural.It is located at 44th and Haverford, in the Mill Creek neighborhood of West Philadelphia. The health center is a short walk

from Parkway West, Bryn Mawr' partnership high school and a 20 minute drive from the College.

Shira was my supervisor for this project. We worked together on everything related to the project, from interviewing women at the senior center and plan course material for the fall. I will be Shira's teaching assistant for the class. 

Shira Walinsky helps Parkway West Graduate,

Latasha Billington use the Lumix Camera. ra

Detail from Shira’s mural

at 44th and Ludlow. andDetail from her mural at 2nd and American streets.

Shira Walinsky

Shira’s Lunch Truck project.

Oral History

Shira Walinsky shows Beverly Braxton potential designs for the mural. Ms. Braxton was a subject for Oral History interviews.

As a Community Based program, murals are based in the communities where the murals are installed.

 We interviewed women from a wide range of backgrounds in the community surround the health center about their

experiences with education, jobs and life in West Philadelphia. Much of the content from these interviews will

become audio and visual components of the mural.

Parkway West Students videotape interview each other about inspiring women in their lives.

Mural Kick-Off Event at Parkway West High School

On July 11th with help from  Parkway West students, we got ready for our big event at the Lancaster Avenue Jazz Festival. We taught the students how to conduct oral histories and made tee shirts for the festival.

Bryn Mawr alums Zanny Alter and MZ Morris help Parkway West student Kevin Gurrier decorate his tee shirt.Latasha Billington, a Mural Corps

student and Parkway West graduate decorates a tee shirt.

Lancaster Avenue Arts and Jazz Festival

We partnered  People's Emergency Center to set up a 'Pioneering Women' table at the Jazz Fest. Parkway students conducted Oral interviews and the Bryn Mawr College Art Club provided printmaking supplies. We printed lino-cuts and interviewed festival visitors.

We interviewed 20 people at this event and made over 50 prints.It was our most successful public event.

Clockwise: Students interview Jazz Festival visitors, Volunteer, Elly Lehman helps a young visitor pull a lino cut of Ella Baker using a traveling printing press.

She

Community Design Review MeetingOn August 17th, members of the Bryn Mawr and Mill Creek community met for a second time to examine and discuss potential mural designs.  We got lots of feedback and  great suggestions for the mural design.

Mural Arts Program director, Jane Golden talks to Community Members about the Mural Design.

Possible Mural Designs

How can a small (elite) suburban liberal arts college make a mural in West Philadelphia?

This question was asked several times.  • We are the facilitators

not the owners.• The mural does not belong

to Bryn Mawr. It belongs to the community surrounding the mural.

• As students and muralists in this class, we are honored to be a part of the process.

 Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women workers held an  art show in 1934 Sulzberberger Middle School (now Parkway West). Throughout the summer we found many connections between West Philadelphia and Bryn Mawr College, demonstrating the college has been connected in many ways to West Philadelphia's history. 

Coming this Fall....

 Community Paint Days! Community members from Bryn Mawr and Mill Creek will be hosting a series of paint days.October 5th at Health Center 4October 30th Book ReleasePlanned for Winter 2010-11 Mural InstallationPlanned for Spring 2011  

Students from the Bryn Mawr-Parkway West Mural Arts class will continue to engage in community dialogue by  collecting  Oral Histories and finalizing  the mural design.