The Mt. Airy Art Garage (MAAG) is a community organization unlike Daisy Juarez has ever been involved in.
“We have visual arts, performing arts, literary arts, we even have a quilting club,” she said. “It’s a multifunctional garage.”
Juarez became a member last year after moving to Philadelphia. An artist herself, Juarez said she was looking to join an organization similar to the watercolor society she was part of in Illinois – a group where she could connect with fellow artists as well as with the community – luckily, she discovered the Art Garage.
“We’re really all about community and creativity,” said Linda Slodki, president and cofounder of MAAG. “Our goal is to bring artists out of isolation.”
The Starfinder Foundation community came together recently to celebrate the graduation of all 28 of their Senior Leaders from high school.
Since it’s inception in 2002, the Starfinder Foundation’s mission has been to reach out to children in underserved communities and enhance their personal growth both on and off the field. The nonprofit, which is headquartered on Main Street in Manayunk, provides youth with soccer instruction along with educational and personal enrichment programs.
The Senior Leaders program specifically caters to high school students. It offers students not only instruction in soccer, but also teaches media and technology literacy, provides SAT and college prep help, provides summer work experience and aims to develop leadership skills.
Heidi Warren is the executive director at Starfinder and opened the night by talking about the academic success that participants in the Senior Leader program have had.
“Since 2008, 100 percent of our seniors have graduated from high school,” she said…. Read the full story
On a humid Tuesday afternoon at the intersection of Kensington Avenue and Hagart Street in the Kensington section of Philadelphia, residents and passersby stopped by the Cast Your Cares Ministry to receive an assembly of midday snacks such as canned fruit, Tastykakes and ice water.
This sight is common to the neighborhood for every Tuesday and Wednesday between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Cast Your Cares leader Jim Snider, 48, aided with a team of volunteers, leads a food cupboard aiming to feed the struggling population of Kensington. The organization provides a biweekly grocery pickup that serves over 80 regular visitors from the neighborhood and beyond every week. In addition, there is a waiting list of nearly 60 people anxiously waiting to join the rotation.
Along with the weekly food donations, Cast Your Cares hosts a hot meal in the reformed lot next to their headquarters on Kensington Avenue every Saturday afternoon…. Read the full story
Iman Marcano-Sowell always loved cooking, but it was never her dream until she and her mother opened their food stand, Calypso, in the Chestnut Hill Farmer’s Market in May 2009.
“I just knew that she could cook,” Marcano-Sowell said of her mother, Claudette Campbell. “And I knew that we would do well because quality is important, and I know that she has consistency in her food.”
At first it was difficult to convince Campbell to open up a stand in the farmer’s market, said Marcano-Sowell. Now, just four years later – thanks to Campbell’s quality and consistency – the two are proud to call a Mount Airy storefront home.
Nearly two weeks ago, Calypso opened its doors. Nestled in a quaint space along Germantown Avenue, the restaurant will serve up the same type of its beloved Trinidadian fare as before but will also feature some funky twist on good comfort food…. Read the full story
The Mt. Airy Art Garage (MAAG) is a community organization unlike Daisy Juarez has ever been involved in.
“We have visual arts, performing arts, literary arts, we even have a quilting club,” she said. “It’s a multifunctional garage.”
Juarez became a member last year after moving to Philadelphia. An artist herself, Juarez said she was looking to join an organization similar to the watercolor society she was part of in Illinois – a group where she could connect with fellow artists as well as with the community – luckily, she discovered the Art Garage.
“We’re really all about community and creativity,” said Linda Slodki, president and cofounder of MAAG. “Our goal is to bring artists out of isolation.”
Carmela Greco, daughter of flamenco dance legend Jose Greco, visited Flamenco Ole! Dance Studio in Fairmount earlier this month. She’s visiting the Philadelphia area before moving to Chicago to teach at Northeastern Illinois University.
Greco began studying dance at the age of 11 in Madrid, Spain and eventually became a Prima ballerina for the Spanish company Luisillo…. Read More
For many, the battered streets beneath the El along Kensington Avenue serve as an eyesore, but for some, it is an outlet of expression.
Photographer Jeffrey Stockbridge, 31, has turned the littered sidewalks of Kensington into a narrative of the neighborhood’s struggle
with drugs and addiction through his blog Kensington Blues. By using photographs, audio recordings and journal entries, Stockbridge utilizes several media platforms to show the lives of those living along Kensington Avenue, better known to them as “the Ave.”
Stockbridge started Kensington Blues in 2008 after spending years photographing the interior of abandoned houses around Philadelphia. Through his work within blighted neighborhoods he became more familiar with those who occupied their streets and narrowed his focus to document their stories.
Philly Pride held its 25th annual Parade and Festival on Sunday. Over 160 groups, organizations and vendors were present at the festival, which had over 10 thousand attendees. Pride organizers predicted this year would have a record turnout.
Among the organizations present was Galaei, an organization that calls itself the home of the Philadelphia lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Latino…. Read More
Limited Internet access does not stop East and West Poplar residents from getting online. The 255 daily visitors of the Ramonita G. de Rodriguez Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia are primarily there to use the computer services.
In a 2012 article by Technically Philly, reporter Brian James Kirk revealed that 55 percent of Philadelphia residents lack access to the Internet in their homes…. Read More
Technology is changing the way we live.
So- it is interesting to observe how Mount Airy – a neighborhood as old as America itself – is staying up-to-date, while still preserving its historic charm and quaint village-like atmosphere.
Unlike most places in America, Mount Airy remains rather untouched when it comes to commercial outlets and trendy chain stores…. Read More
In a world where news is becoming increasingly digitized, how do individuals who don’t have regular access to the Internet stay in the loop? Bob and Jim Smiley of The Frankford Gazette provide The Digital Ave as one answer.
The Digital Ave is a storefront projection that provides a live update of headlines and tweets via The Frankford Gazette, the neighborhood’s news publication that began as a website and now prints monthly. The father-son duo teamed up with NorthEast Treatment Centers to project the feed in the NET building’s storefront area…. Read More
Crime in Northern Liberties has been on the decline in recent years. To keep crime trending downward, residents and police alike have taken to a variety of social media outlets.
The Northern Liberties Townwatch is a group that works to foster a strong connection between residents and law enforcement to inform the public about crime in the neighborhood…. Read More
The Circus School, like businesses, bands and other entities has turned to Facebook both to generate an audience and figure out who makes up their audience. While professionals specializing in social media are often hired to streamline communicating messages across different platforms on the internet, this school doesn’t have a dedicated social media manager…. Read More
A program of the Department of Journalism at the School of Media and Communication at Temple University. Copyright 2013.