transforming lives through the

creative arts

205 West Tulpehocken Street Philadelphia, PA 19144

215.842.0428

www.buildabridge.org info@buildabridge.org

BuildaBridge International BuildaBridge International travels the world to restore hope and healing to communities affected by cultural and religious conflict, environmental catastrophe, poverty, illness, and social injustice. Through its specialized team service projects and arts intervention programs, BuildaBridge International promotes dialogue, understanding, healing, reconciliation, and community development with partners throughout the world. We do this in the following ways: Arts Relief and Restoration An advanced volunteer program comprised of art therapy professionals, artists, and community service workers trained in emergency relief though artistic intervention. The Mission of this program is to provide normalcy, relief, and healing through art to children who have experienced trauma as a result of war, natural disaster, and other catastrophes. As a part of BuildaBridge’s Arts Relief and Restoration we have made a ten year commitment to Haiti. Diaspora of Hope Diaspora of Hope is a global one-week Arts for Hope camp in multiple locations. Artists from around the world disperse and gather in different partner locations to teach about hope, through art-making, to the most vulnerable children in the toughest places of our world. International artists join local artists to participate in collaborative training in a common curriculum. They then jointly lead arts camps with children ages 8-14 in each location. The camps provide children the opportunity to experience hope through art-making. DOH is a catalytic event that encourages local community arts and builds capacity and sustainability. Training of local artists is always including prior to the camp.

“There is no way we can correct the wrongs of the past, but we can be a

part of ensuring a positive partnership in the future. There is hope for

something that isn’t simply different, but for something significantly better.”

-Rob (Artist on Call 2009)

OUR STRATEGY ART-MAKING

KIDS TOUGH PLACES

ARTIST MENTORS HOPE AND HEALING

Our Mission BuildaBridge is a nonprofit arts education and intervention organization that engages the transformative power of the creative arts to bring hope and healing to children, families, and communities in the tough places of the world. BuildaBridge motivates, enlists, trains, and connects those with artistic gifts with those in greatest need. BuildaBridge spans barriers of race, class, faith, and culture to promote holistic personal, family, and community development. Committed to principles of love, compassion, justice, reconciliation, and service to others. BuildaBridge offers unique programs featuring cross-cultural perspectives and arts-integrated approaches to holistic personal and community development.

BuildaBridge Institute BuildaBridge Institute is a training and applied research academy designed to prepare community and religious leaders, social workers, artists, and educators for arts-enriched service and leadership to their communities. BuildaBridge Institute embraces the power of the arts in community outreach, teaching, and transformation through local, national, and international training programs and extensive graduate study. Now in its tenth year, BuildaBridge Institute has a faculty body of 80 professional artists, art therapists and professors in the field, and 450 alumni from the US, Europe, Middle East, Southeast Asia and Latin America.

BuildaBridge Community BuildaBridge Community provides arts- integrated intervention and education to children and families in underserved communities. In collaboration with local schools, community centers, transitional homes, and religious congregations, BuildaBridge Community delivers life skills training, artistic educational experiences, and therapeutic intervention through art-making in music, drama, dance, creative writing, and the visual arts. Our community programs are: Discovery Arts education promoting a sense of purpose and inspiration in youth by encouraging them to explore their creative potential, and by giving them resources to develop artistically, academically, socially and spiritually. Artology Artology, an art and biology summer camp, will spark students’ curiosity through a curriculum that integrates natural sciences and the arts and utilizes Philadelphia’s vast natural splendor as a vibrant and evolving classroom. The camp will serve youth coping with homelessness and poverty from BuildaBridge’s partner sites in North, West, and North West Philadelphia. These students will benefit from hands-on educational experiences, as well as from BuildaBridge’s commitment to excellence and its holistic approach to learning and art-making. Healing Creative Arts Therapy providing safe avenues for youth and adults to express their authentic feelings and enabling them to cope with and recover from traumatic or tough experiences.