Greetings!

BuildaBridge celebrated a busy summer of art-making, service and learning. Please click through the titles to read some of the stories and reports from Philadelphia, Atlanta, Kenya and Thailand.   

BuildaBridge has been working over the past year to better serve our constituency through the following four initiatives: 

1. a new website, with blogs, news, a job board and a networking module 
2. a strategic plan based on our alumni survey and other reports that takes into consideration sustainability and succession 
3. a focus on connection and communication, so that we get the right information to the right people 
4. an emphasis on leadership and leadership training at all levels of the organization  

If you would like to read more about these initiatives, click here. Interested in getting involved with the Artblog, leadership training, or anything else? Contact us!

A focus on connection, communication, and information sharing:  Recently, you may have received a phone call or email from Sarah Rohrer who is a development associate with BuildaBridge.  In the process, she has learned of the great work being done by hundreds of artists, community workers and educators.  We are inviting those with interest to contribute their stories and work on our website.  We have well over 4,000 people in our secure database gathered over the past 10 years of programming.  Our goal is to define those people who want a connection to BuildaBridge, and how best to communicate and share information. We are also evaluating the effectiveness of Constant Contact and this general email. In this spirit, we are deleting the names with outdated contact information (we first try to find the correct information).  If you are unsure about your status as an alumni, advocate, ambassador, or just plain well-wisher, please contact Sarah Rohrer.  We want to hear from you.   If you no longer want communication with BuildaBridge, we also understand and will be glad to remove you from our database and subsequent communication.    

Thank you for your continued support.  We appreciate your assistance in fulfilling an important mission.

Local

• Kenya: Kaylie Sauter is returning to Kenya to lead another DOH camp for Mathare valley children at the beach.
• Haiti: We are returning to Louis Pierrot School in Ponte Sonde, Haiti, for a second year of DOH trainings and camp.
• Congo: A therapeutic arts team will provide group therapeutic art sessions for women who have experienced sexual violence and training for local social workers. 

Community

After the Spring Community classes' exhibit and performance with the Art in City Hall (Philadelphia) program, BuildaBridge set its sights even higher, celebrating a summer of arts-integrated earth science learning at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. We are so proud of our Artologists! Go see their work, up until October 30th. See the featured article! 

After receiving a generous grant from the Department of Behavioral Health & Intellectual Disability Services, BuildaBridge joined the Refugee Collaborative and hired four art therapists to bring services to Bhutanese and Burmese children in South Philly, and Iraqi women in North Philly.  Read more about the collaborative and about our preparations.  

Institute/Training

BuildaBridge taught, sang, painted and danced its way through our Tenth Annual Institute. Past students returned to share about their art and community work at the Alumni Symposium Dinner and Art Exhibit. Read the Institute Report and view the Photo Report! 

Dr. Corbitt, Maeva Renaud, Julia Crawford and Magi Ross hosted a leadership training of ten Haitian high schoolers. View Community Programs Coordinator Magira Ross here as she leads the students in becoming well-versed in the BuildaBridge music-learning method. Read more... 

Trainings were held August 25 and August 27 for All Things BuildaBridge and Curriculum Writing & Assessment, respectively, with a total of 24 participants. View our upcoming Fall trainings! 

International

Drs. Corbitt and Nix-Early led second year Arts in Transformation students to Bangkok, Thailand, to create a reflective prayer garden for the women of Nightlight International, an organization providing a way out of the Red Light District.  Read more.

Artists on Call Julia Crawford and Sarah Rohrer formed the BuildaBridge team and returned for the second Diaspora of Hope Camp with Refugee Family Services in Atlanta, Georgia. See the featured article!