upcoming grant deadline: 05/15/2024
March 24 at 2PM
[Registration]
Local multimedia artist Nicole A. Ayers is making more than a decade of audiovisual archives available to see in "The William Penn Project," her home movie day exhibition preserving the student culture, history and significance of the now demolished William Penn High School building on North Broad street, and its impact on the lives of students, parents, teachers, local businesses and neighbors alike. The exhibit will be on display at The Madlab Post studio in the Bok building (1901 S. 9th Street) and available to view by appointment only until March 31, 2021.
Learn about some of the unique academic programs and amenities that were offered at William Penn High School, see a collection of rare photographs inside the building up close, meet the artist, take a tour of this home movie day exhibit, and get a behind-the-scenes look at how student life declined due to carefully orchestrated negligence by the city's educational, community and political leaders that our children in North Philadelphia rely on most.
ABOUT THE EVENT
With a video camera and rolls of 35mm film in tow, Ms. Nicole A. Ayers documented life at William Penn High School, depicting the joys, trials and tribulations of the school's predominantly African-American student population through the expressive nature of its Arts curriculum. Her work includes dozens of video, print and digital images, illustrating an overlooked part of Philadelphia history at this Yorktown neighborhood school, as well as the city at-large.
In her archival collection, filmed and photographed over a 10-year period, Ms. Ayers has captured Philadelphia public school history, culture, education and local politics, shot from the perspective of the students, teachers and alumni who filled the halls of this 554,000 sq. ft building in the heart of North Philadelphia.
Her photographs and videos tell a story that preserves the voices to those impacted by the carelessness, ignorance and unethical practices that caused the downfall of the district's largest facility that once served as a promising resource of education for Philadelphia's most undeserved community, through snapshots of daily life at William Penn High School. Her home video exhibition also features mementos and historical documents related to student life at William Penn High School. The majority of these items are originals that exist nowhere else in the world.
In today's age of short attention spans and digital obsolescence, this home movie day exhibit aims to teach Philadelphia residents about the importance of preserving digital and analog media that documents our family, city and cultural heritage. This exhibit also serves as a cautionary tale for parents, teachers, councilmen, community and political leaders in Philadelphia to do better at keeping our city's public schools from being abandoned and demolished, because such neglect further contributes to the demise of access to quality education for our children.
For details or to RSVP, visit https://community.madlabpost.com
