Arts & Spirituality Center E-News - May 2006
Community BONUS!
- From our Board Members... (Read it!)
- Philadelphia Interfaith Peace Walk
Dear Friends,
I am grateful to be immersed in so much good news here at the Arts & Spirituality Center and want to highlight some of our current celebrations.
Congratulations to Elise Miller, who was honored by the Arts & Business Council of Philadelphia as the Technology Connectors volunteer of the year for her work with the Arts & Spirituality Center. Elise, thank you for all of your help and work well done! We are grateful to the Arts & Business Council for sending tremendous volunteers our way.
We received our IRS tax exempt status as a nonprofit organization, and express our gratitude to Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC for their pro-bono assistance with our applicaton. Special thanks to Valerie Munson and Jennifer Rawson of Eckert Seamans and to Shelby Haverson of our Board for their extraordinary efforts and expertise in the preparation of our application. Finally, we honor Tabernacle United Church for being an extraordinary midwife and for serving as our fiscal sponsor.
In this month's e-newsletter, we are pleased to highlight the work of the Interfaith Youth Poetry Project. IYPP founder and director, Cathy Cohen, has just returned from another inspiring trip to where Israel, teachers and principals from all over the country came to hear her lecture. As an unparalleled model which uses poetry as a vehicle for healing and reconciliation, IYPP has been embraced warmly in the region. Meanwhile, locally, programming continues with young people all over the Philadelphia area. We also gathered this month for the third annual IYPP event at the Liberty Museum. Many thanks to Cathy and everyone involved in the Interfaith Youth Poetry Project for five years of inspiration and innovation in the field!
Finally, we hope that you will join us in dedicating two murals: board member, Sara Steele's (information in next section), and the Growing Peace and Justice Mural at Hancock St-John’s United Methodist Church on June 11 (story and invitation below).
With joy and gratitude,
Susan Teegen-Case
Executive Director
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 - Majdal Shams
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by Cathy Cohen, Director of the Interfaith Youth Poetry Project
I just returned at the end of March from a two-week trip to Israel, where I was treated with great hospitality, and taught poetry workshops in many fascinating places.
First, my family and I visited Givat Haviva Institute, which runs programs promoting the values of human dignity and equality between Jews and Arabs living in Israel. Invited by one of the directors, Sanaa Abu Asbeh-Watad, I gave a workshop on poetry techniques to teachers and directors at the center. Afterwards, Sanaa invited everyone back to her house in the village of Jatt for a fabulous feast with her family.
Next, I lectured at the University of Haifa’s Jewish-Arab Center to teachers and principals who felt they could use these techniques in their home schools. The workshop took place in a beautiful new arts building on Mt. Carmel, overlooking Haifa Bay, with a view of the plains and Galilee Mountains, where many of these teachers work in cities and villages.
 - Mother's Day celebration
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I also returned to the Druze village of Beit Jann, located in the mountains above Karmiel, where I taught last summer. Arriving at the elementary school just in time for the celebration of Mother's Day, my friend, Ilon Bavly (a Jewish social worker who has worked in the village for many years) and I, viewed a program of poems and songs recited by the children -- as well as a parade of children marching through the (very steep) village streets with drums and flags, followed by three energetic horses! I taught 70 elementary school students, who wrote beautiful poems about themselves. I am grateful to Rali, and to the principal, Malcham Kablan for kindly hosting me.
 - Weavers at work in Galilee
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I also visited a circle of interfaith weavers, who craft beautiful blankets, bags and other items in the village of Kaokab El Hija. This remarkable group of Jews and Arabs are breaking down barriers and building bridges (weaving bridges!) of art and friendship. David Bavly, who helps organize this and many other such groups, was just setting up a new loom that day, and the women rushed to string yarn and fasten screws. We all drank strong coffee while gazing out at the beautiful Galilee Mountains and wildflowers.
Before returning home, I was hosted by Moneer Sabagh, who directs ARAM-Golan, a social work agency in the Golan Heights. Ilon and I traveled to the amazingly beautiful Druze city of Majdal Shams for a poetry workshop with children and teachers. Majdal Shams, nestled under Mt. Hermon, is an ancient Aramaic name, which means "fortess of the sun," and it was truly a day of light and art, as children wrote poems about their lives, names, and families.
Find out more about the Interfaith Youth Poetry Project!
Get your own copy of the Hand to Hand, Heart to Heart Poetry Journal (an international collection of IYPP poetry)!!!
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Please join us to dedicate this new mural!
Growing Peace and Justice
Sunday, June 11, 2006
11a.m. Worship Service; 12 noon Mural Dedication
Hancock-St. John United Methodist Church
1217 N. Hancock Street
All are welcome for breakfast at 9:30a.m.
We celebrate the Reverend Delois Johnson, the leadership and children of Hancock St. John’s United Methodist Church, artist Joe Brenman, students from North Carolina State University Alternative Spring Break Program, and our wonderful partners of the Interfaith Center of Greater Philadelphia for the creation of a beautiful new mural at Hancock-St John’s United Methodist Church.
In March, the Interfaith Center offered an Alternative Spring Break Program for students from North Carolina State University. NCSU students visited and experienced a variety of faith communities in our region, including a week of service at the Hancock-St. John's After School Program. Joe Brenman, Artist-in-Residence with the Arts & Spirituality Center, engaged the college students and 4th-5th grade youth in creating a mosaic tile mural on the front of the church.
Hancock-St. John's is excited to have a mural of their own, having been an extraordinary partner in creating the "Doorways to Peace" mural in 2004 at the Al-Aqsa Islamic Society (a MasterPeace project of the Arts & Spirituality Center). We are thrilled that Hancock-St. John’s now has their own mural that radiates their beautiful spirit in Kensington South!
Growing Peace and Justice was a joyful collaboration of:
Joe Brenman, Artist-in-Residence, Arts & Spirituality Center
Hancock St. John's After School Youth
North Carolina State University Alternative Spring Break Students
Interfaith Center of Greater Philadelphia
Dedicated in memory of Patrick Maurice Spencer
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Sara Steele's new "Bioluminescence" mural in Mt. Airy will be dedicated this Friday, June 2, 2006. Please join us in dedicating this mural at 7pm at 7174 Germantown Avenue. Voices of a Different Dream will be performing, and Jane Golden of the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program will speak.
Magda Martinez who is a 2005 Leeway Foundation Transformation Awardee, and gave an extraordinary performance as part of the Leeway Foundations Changemaker Cabaret on Tuesday evening. We are honored to have Magda as a new member of our team.
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Several board members who are involved in planning the 3rd Annual Philadelphia Interfaith Walk For Peace & Reconciliation. Sunday, June 4, 2006 at 1pm. Gathering at Al-Aqsa Mosque (1501 Germantown Ave) and proceeding to St Peter's Church, Christ Church, past Independence Mall, to close at Society Hill Synagogue (5th and Spruce). For more information, review their flyer or contact 215-854-8038.
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June 10: Premier of Teens United Performing Arts Project in collaboration with Mothers In Charge and Teenagers In Charge: Francis Myers Recreation Center mulit-purpose room (5800 Kingsessing Ave) at 3pm.
June 11: Mural Dedication for Growing Peace and Justice at Hancock-St. John United Methodist Church (1217 N. Hancock Street). 11a.m. Worship Service; 12 noon Mural Dedication. All are welcome for breakfast at 9:30a.m.
Check out our on-line calendar for more details...
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