Mural Arts’ ‘No Place Like Home’ student exhibition champions the importance of art education

A unique exposed-brick home in Northern Liberties opened its doors for a special two-day tour this week The whimsical property contains an open floor plan fireplace ornate light fixtures and comes fully furnished with artwork from up-and-coming Philly creatives The home is not really up for sale it s part of an annual candidate exhibition for Mural Arts Art Learning operation The show No Place Like Home which was presented Wednesday and Thursday this week by the Huddle Gallery contained artwork from more than students around the city ages to who attend the organization s after-school art courses Our theme this year is No Place Like Home and so we decided to turn the gallery space into our version of a little house noted Natalie Gearin Mural Arts art coaching administrative and undertaking manager It s looking really beautiful We have a bedroom a kitchen living room all that good stuff Candidate artwork at the No Place Like Home exhibition Julia Binswanger Billy Penn This was no ordinary house Not only did students get to create drawings and paintings for the small dwelling but plenty of craft projects were on display giving the entire show a Wonka-esque vibe Paper flowers decorated one of the home s beams from floor to ceiling painted cotton clouds hung in the air A repurposed fireplace and mantle was decorated with bright tiled patterns Papier-m ch pets sat in place Jane Golden founder and executive director of Mural Arts spoke in front of a packed crowd at the galleries opening on Wednesday to champion participant work We re living in precarious times right now Golden disclosed Sometimes you think Oh the world is so crazy but what roots us is a feeling of home And it s my desire that Mural Arts is a home for you We believe really deeply and passionately and relentlessly that all young people in the city of Philadelphia should have access to art schooling and that is not something we should negotiate or compromise around Building identity through art The Trump administration in recent months proposed a billion cut to the U S Department of Teaching about of the budget including a billion reduction in K- funding per the New York Times And this March WHYY broadcasted that Philly s school district is facing a budget shortfall and is underfunded by billion annually Unfortunately when development programs face cuts art initiatives is sometimes the first to go Research shows that art programs can be extremely beneficial when it comes to a candidate s sense of self and may genuinely impact their performance in other school subjects One assessment revealed that middle school students who elected to take arts classes also exhibited stronger performances in math and reading in earlier grades Another demonstrated that arts integration naturally leads students to interact with academic content in tactics that promote long-term retention The Mural Arts Tuition initiative conducts multiple surveys a year to see how their programs are impacting candidate s daily lives Colorful clouds at the trainee exhibition Julia Binswanger Billy Penn Season after season every single year overwhelmingly they say in their own words it increases their population engagement and it strengthens their relationship with their peers Gearin commented Consistently I see that they review they feel that they re better at collaborating with their peers They feel they re better at problem-solving They feel that their ability to take feedback and incorporate it into what they re doing has improved Gearin explained that these tools don t just affect a scholar s artistic and academic proficiencies they are life skills that make an impact at home at work and with friends and loved ones Rebecca Miller a lead teaching artist at the scheme was grateful for the effort because it gives creatives like herself gainful employment but also because of how it is shaping students There s something about having your own space that s not school where there s a million other kids This is a space where they can go outside of those roles and kind of build their own identity away from that Miller reported I think that that is just a really key way for students to grow to have another adult or another several adults that they re interacting with It s really just helped me so much -year-old Sy Ana Trippett declared they are extremely grateful to participate in classes with Mural Arts and be a part of the No Place Like Home exhibition Trippett who does not have preferred pronouns has been interested in art ever since they could pick up a pencil It s really just helped me so much and I love it Trippett reported of the effort I m a pretty anxious person so coming in and doing art and having to be at dedications speaking and sharing my art was a huge step outside of what I would usually do Sy-Ana Trippett Julia Binswanger Billy Penn But I m very glad that I did it That initial feeling of feeling out of place it s kind of gone now And I feel like it s helping me a lot with my anxiety Trippett is in the Mural Arts Advanced Placement Undertaking the class that created the papier-m ch pets for the exhibition They are inspired by the surrealist movement and requested to include an element of horror into the fantastical participant house The pet they created is a cross between a beetle and a dog Students teachers and parents picked up special T-shirts celebrating the show at the event s entrance Trippett created the design and won a contest to have it featured on the clothing Their grandfather Tyrone Williams wore the shirt proudly around the exhibition She never ceases to amaze us Williams commented He has been championing his granddaughter s artistic talent since they were quite young never throwing out their work and compiling a portfolio He enrolled Trippett into the Mural Arts campaign Last summer I was trying to find out what she could do that would interest her because she s an introvert And so you have to really search around for her interest and art just excites her Marlen Flores Jimenez another advanced apprentice echoed the social impact of the activity in a speech on opening night Jiminez explained that as a child she was very artistic but for numerous years did not participate in art activities Mural Arts has given me a space to be that kid again she mentioned They have also helped me with my social skills as I can sometimes hide in my social shell Through their welcoming nature I was able to make friends who bring out my bubbly side No Place Like Philly In a great number of approaches the show s No Place Like Home theme was apt Not just because the gallery was decorated as a house but because the playful nature of the decor and artwork gave the space a somewhat magical and Ozian vibe The large chandelier at the exhibition was created with translucent panels made by hundreds of students all across the city All the pictures and paintings contained the charm of artwork that comes only from the mind of a young person Students from edmonds elementary created this vintage television set Julia Binswanger Billy Penn The living room of the exhibition featured a funky vintage box television set painted yellow and drawn all over It is a collaboration from students at Edmonds Elementary A great number of VHS sets were strewn in front of it The piece seemed to share the same DNA as a vintage television set displayed at the gallery earlier this month from street artist Taped Off TV It s gripping because these students are quite young and they ve created this giant floor-model television that is like TVs that they ve never seen before because they re too young to have seen these clunky old TVs Gearin explained So it s their interpretation of a TV from years ago Trippett hopes that they can continue to nurture their artistic abilities as they head into their senior year next fall I m just excited for her future Williams reported Art allows you to see where they re at and where they can go On their end Trippett is thinking about pursuing a career in the animation industry I m looking to be a storyboard artist they mentioned I do want to go to college It s a big decision and I m mostly just looking into it and trying to figure out how to go about it Honestly I want to be able to make money from my art and do what I love and I want to see where everything takes me The post Mural Arts No Place Like Home attendee exhibition champions the importance of art learning appeared first on Billy Penn at WHYY