BuildaBridge Community Programs

“When there is peace, you can see it on the faces and in the eyes of children." A.K., a middle-aged man from Iraq, shared this quote about his drawing of children playing around trees.  A.K. noted during his sharing time that the music playing in the background, eased his nerves as he drew.  Read about A.K. here. Oliver, a man in his young thirties, drew stick figures at an airport about to board a plane to a new land. In describing his image, he discussed his journey of leaving behind his home country and going to new country where he is currently unfamiliar with the language, people and the culture. Overwhelmed by these challenges, he shared with the group that he often thought “maybe I should go back home".  With encouragement from the group and much reflection through his artwork, he felt by the end that the group would be a good place to network and share his story as a survivor of torture.   As part of BuildaBridge's efforts with the Philadelphia Partnersh...

"This piece reminds me of my village back in the Congo."  "This painting of nature makes me feel calm." "That's a portrait of Martin Luther King, Jr.!  I know who he is!" Sunday February 22nd BuildaBridge artists and five clients of the Philadelphia Partnership for Resilience (PPR), a collaborative with Nationalities Services Center and Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, visited the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA).  These trips, termed purposeful interventions, assist clients in learning about and engaging in American culture through arts and culture experiences outside of the classroom. In celebration of Black History Month, the group first viewed the exhibit “Represent:  200 Years of African American Art.”   "From compelling stories to innovative methods, Represent explores the evolving ways in which African American artists have expressed personal, political, and racial identity" (PMA).  Artists engaged clients in one-on-one conversations reg...