Placemaking: The Artist’s Role

The Center for Emerging Visual Artists, The Corzo Center for the Creative Economy at The University of the Arts and Flying Kite present, "Placemaking: The Artist's Role" Thursday, March 27 th at 5:30pm at The Gershman Hall (Chapel 401 South Broad). 

The importance of the artist's role as "placemaker" has grown significantly in recent years. With increases in funding and visibility for artists that are working in this way, placemaking has established itself firmly in the world of visual art.  This conversation will explore the role of artist as placemaker, the social responsibility of working outside of the studio and the benefit of involving artists to define, create or alter place.

The program begins at 5:30 pm. This session is free for UArts students and alumni (with ID) and $12.00 general admission. Artists affilalated with The Center for Emerging Visual Artists and AIA receive a $2 discount. Pre- Registration is required. Individuals who have not pre-registered are not guaranteed a seat. To reserve a space or to receive more information about The Center for Emerging Visual Artists or Direct Dialogues Lecture Series, please contact Genevieve Coutroubis, by phone (215) 546 - 7775 x 11 or by email Genevieve@cfeva.org

Presenters Include:

Lily Yeh is an internationally celebrated artist whose work has taken her to communities throughout the world. As founder and executive director of the Village of Arts and Humanities in North Philadelphia from 1968 to 2004, she helped create a national model of community building through the arts. In 2002, Yeh pursued her work internationally, founding Barefoot Artists, Inc., to bring the transformative power of art to impoverished communities around the globe through participatory, multifaceted projects that foster community empowerment, improve the physical environment, promote economic development and preserve indigenous art and culture. In addition to the United States, she has carried out projects in multiple countries including Kenya, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Rwanda, China, Taiwan, Ecuador, Syria, Republic of Georgia, Haiti, and Palestine. (www.barefootartists.org) 

Benjamin Volta is an artist that earned a certificate in sculpture from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 2002 and a BFA from the University of Pennsylvania in 2005. For the past 10 years, he has been developing a collaborative art-making process that builds upon partnerships with public schools, art organizations and communities. He’s received funding from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the U.S. Department of Education to work in over 35 schools on hundreds of projects, some of which are on permanent display at The National Academy of Science’s Keck Center in Washington, D.C. Using the same collaborative process, he has developed many public art works, including murals at The Philadelphia International Airport, The Center for Art in Wood, and the 11th Street Family Health Services of Drexel University, as well as the Cohen Children’s Medical Center in NYC and the Regina Public Library in Saskatchewan, Canada. In 2012, he founded the Volta Studio School, which functions as a classroom for youth, a fabrication studio, and a playgroup space for parents and kids. He is currently working on multiple projects in partnership with the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program and is represented by Pentimenti Gallery in Philadelphia. As a young artist he was a member of the groundbreaking art collective Tim Rollins and K.O.S.

Dan Schimmel is a practicing artist and founder of STEAMworkPHILLY, a creative network of artists, designers and social entrepreneurs who believe in the power of collaborative design, access to new technology and arts-based teamwork to solve intersecting business, civic and educational challenges. Dan has 12+ years experience as a non-profit arts administrator at the University City Science Center directing the Esther Klein Art Gallery (2001-09) and Breadboard (2010-2013). Both were award-winning programs at the intersection of art, science and technology, along with a commitment to community engagement and youth advancement. As a curator Dan introduced the first olfactory art exhibits to Philadelphia, Scent is Life and Odor Limits; and the city's first Augmented Reality (AR) public placemaking project using mobile media and smartphone technology. Dan also developed and implemented award winning programs such as Art in the Air, Operation Eve, and the ground-breaking Artist Residency Program at NextFab Studio. Dan has a knack for creating symbiotic partnerships, collaborating with the likes of Monell Center, PECO, Philadelphia's Office of Arts Culture and Creative Economy and the Mural Arts Program on projects that gained regional and national attention. In 2012 Dan was named by Philadelphia Magazine as one of the city’s smartest people in the Arts & Culture sector. That year he also received the Arts & Business Council’s Business & Arts Partnership Award for the Breadboard & NextFab Studio collaboration.

Placemaking: The Artist's Role is co-presented by the Center for Architecture, Design Philadelphia, and STEAMwork Philly.