Profiles - Projects

The Crossroads Charlotte project began in 2001 when the town of Charlotte, North Carolina participated in a national survey on social capital. The survey found that the community had high levels of faith-based involvement and philanthropy, but ranked last on social and interracial trust.

Each April, during National Poetry Month, the Baltimore-based organization Poetry in Community—along with local literary organizations, publishers, and poets—sponsors a free community-centric festival with readings, performances, free poetry distribution, public poetry displays, and more. Readings are hosted by a diverse group of poets and literary organizations and are held in venues that support community sustainability. Open mic is featured at each event to encourage new and emerging talent to make their presence known.

Cycles is an arts and social justice project addressing women’s health issues in neighborhoods in East Baltimore. Community artist, Whitney Frazier, collaborates with women and girls to produce an illustrated resource book about women’s health topics. After creating the book, female participants will distribute the book to their community members and host their own visual storytelling workshops.

“Dear President Blank,” is a mail art exhibition and project for every student at Minneapolis College of Art & Design. Here’s how it worked: 1. Each participating student created a message for the next U.S. president. 2. “Dear President Blank” collected and exhibited those messages in every hallway in the school. 3. Each message was then taken down and mailed to the next president. TALK ABOUT YOUR WORK/MESSAGE. MCAD faculty initiated discussion during the first week of class and then students picked up the conversation later, after the project had begun. The point was this.

Detroit Neighborhood Arts Corps (DNAC), a program of the College for Creative Studies’ (CCS) Community Arts Partnerships (CAP), supports the creative youth development of its high school age population by linking their interest in art to community engagement and a creative education/career pipeline. DNAC provides high school students with an interest in or aptitude for the arts opportunities to work with well trained, professional Teaching Artists to develop public art murals, installations, exhibitions, and events.

The Documentary History Project for Youth is an after-school, weekend, and summertime production workshop for middle and high school students. Up to 12 young people explore an aspect of the political, social, or cultural history of Philadelphia by creating short video documentaries, audio works or websites. Students gain solid skills in media production - including planning, scripting, camera and sound recording, editing, and exposure to varied media production softwares.

Portrait of America’s™ Dream initiative is a Celebration of the American Way of Life. It is a reflection on America today as illuminated through interviews and images of America’s newest citizens. It invites these immigrants of note to share their motivation and reasoning for coming to the United States and what they have experience here.

Four million Americans live with an autoimmune disease that has so many symptoms it typically takes eight years to diagnose it. In the interactive website Dry Eyes, Dry Mouth, filmmaker Anita Womack turns the camera on herself as she searches for a regimen to cope with Sjogren’s Syndrome. Producer/Directors: Anita Womack, Tanisha Christie

Edifice Complex and other urban plans is a seven-song collection of music that distills land-use concepts into human-size basics. Melanie Hammet’s experience with musical theatre is evident in the inventive approach to her subject. “CarTune,” for example, is orchestrated with a band of live automobile sounds.