Programs

BuildaBridge has three basic programs with a number of project/programs under each.  This page provides descriptions for:

Community
  • Discovery
  • Artology
  • Healing

International
  • Arts Relief and Recovery
  • Arts-based Restorative Community Development

Institute
  • Annual Institute
  • Graduate Studies in Community Arts
  • Online Training
  • On-Ground Training
  • Certification


Refugee Project Celebration with Bhutanese Children

COMMUNITY

BuildaBridge Community provides arts-integrated intervention and education to children and families in underserved communities of Philadelphia. We collaborate with local schools, community centers, transitional homes, and religious congregations in Philadelphia. BuildaBridge Community provides creative arts educational experiences and therapeutic intervention through art-making in music, drama, dance, creative writing, and the visual arts.

Discovery Program

BuildaBridge’s Discovery program offers after-school and evening Arts-integrated education programs to children and youth living in emergency homeless shelters, transitional homes, and schools in Philadelphia (usually in 7-15 week modules). Discovery connects compassionate, talented teaching artists with interested, creative children in need.

The after-school component of Discovery runs 28 weeks (September to June) and serves 250-300 different students in 7-10 sites, which are BuildaBridge partners for the project. Because of the transient nature of our population, age and grades of students changes often. Discovery serves students from elementary to high school, with the preponderance of students being in grades 5 to 8.


Artology

Artology is an interdisciplinary dynamic education program connecting artistic and scientific discovery. Artology sharpens students’ creative proficiency, stimulates investigative inquiry, and deepens a sense of public responsibility.

The curriculum integrates natural sciences and the arts and utilizes Philadelphia’s vast natural splendor as a vibrant and evolving classroom. The program serves youth coping with homelessness and poverty from BuildaBridge’s partner sites in North, West, and North West Philadelphia. Students 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 provides safe avenues for youth to express their authentic feelings and enables them to cope with and recover from traumatic or tough experiences. BuildaBridge provides creative arts therapy in local transitional homes and service sites upon request.  Two current locations are Women Against Abuse and the Northwest Philadelphia Interfaith Hospitality Network.

In 2011, BuildaBridge began working with Bhutanese and Burmese refugees in Philadelphia as part of the Philadelphia Refugee Mental Health Collaborative (PRMHC). BuildaBridge's role within the collaborative consists of providing art therapy groups for two distinct refugee population groups: The Bhutanese and Burmese, both of whom reside in South Philadelphia. A team of art therapists, all trained Artists-On-Call, utilize the trauma-informed BuildaBridge Classroom model in helping children identify adjustment strategies that build on the strengths of their communities in promoting success, strength, recovery and resiliency in a new culture.  Read the BuildaBridge Refugee Project Portfolio.

To read the full summary of Year 1 programming, please visit the Year 1 Report.



BuildaBridge from Dave Barbaree on Vimeo.


Teachers in Action

This video features four of BuildaBridge's current teaching artists working in out-of-school-time classes with students:  Dr. Vivian Nix-Early, Mr. Jamaine Smith, Ms. Julia Crawford, & Ms. Stevie Neale (see their bios in the "Bios" attachment to the grant application).  Dr. Nix-Early & Mr. Smith are co-teaching a music and visual arts semester project that involves students learning to play the djembe drum, make their own precussion instruments from recycled materials in the school, and decorate those instruments using meaningful symbols created in the visual arts sessions focused on representational & symbolic art.



INTERNATIONAL


Movement psycho-emotional assessment class at an orphanage in Kenya

BuildaBridge International focuses on Education, Healing and the Environment. Since 1997 when we responded to requests for intervention following an earthquake in Costa Rica, our services have included creative arts camps, extended internships, training and special arts-based projects.  These have taken place in Asia, Central and South America, Africa, Europe and the United States.

Mural project on school wall following hurricane in Turks and Caicos Islands

As a professional organization, we train volunteers for service, provide trainers for local arts-based education, and collaborate with local organizations for building their capacity to serve children and families.

Creating a reflective garden for a non-profit working with trafficked sex-workers in Bangkok, Thailand

Click and View Portfolios from our international training and service projects.

Bolivia: Artists in Sustainable Development
Arts for Hope Bogota, Colombia
Arts for Hope Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Arts for Hope Dominican Republic
Arts for Hope Haiti
Arts for Hope Kenya
Arts for Hope Montana 2009
BuildaBridge Refugee Project, Philadelphia

Definitions

Arts Relief: (or arts-based psychosocial support) refers to the use of the creative arts in the event of a catastrophe, violence, poverty, terrorist attacks, or homelessness to help the survivors of such events process through healing (Wilcox: 2009). In response to natural disasters, political crises, religious conflict, and extreme poverty, BuildaBridge serves as second responders (after the first response of emergency intervention of food, clothing, shelter and medical intervention) through:
  • Arts-based psychological first aid and creative arts therapy, to help with the effects of trauma;
  • Creating safe and creative spaces for children; spaces that are both emotionally and physically safe; and, where children feel free to play, create and express themselves.
  • Providing for holistic wellness through arts camps that specifically assist children in learning about safe living practices and to build academic, social and character skills.
All intervention and relief is at the invitation of, and in collaboration, with international and local host organizations. Arts Relief should lead to Restorative Development.

Training health workers in Democratic Republic of the Congo in arts-based trauma relief

Arts-Based Restorative Development (ARD): ARD is a long-term collaborative and restorative project assisting both individuals (primarily focusing on children) and communities with the goal of restoring holistic wellness in the physical, psychological, emotional, social, and spiritual dimensions of life. The primary atrategies are:
  • Training of artists and community workers (including health, community and congregation workers) in arts-based methods of psychosocial support and restoration,
  • Educating creative artists as arts-assisted education practitioners with children in residential and after-school programs,
  • Collaborating with local organizations for restoring the environment as a livable and creative cultural place, and
  • Empowering local organizations to develop capacity and sustainable arts based education programs

INSTITUTE



The BuildaBridge Institute is a training and applied research academy designed to prepare artists, youth workers, community and congregational leaders, teachers, social service professionals, and nonprofit organization personnel to integrate the arts effectively in education, social services and community development. All BuildaBridge trainings are listed as part of the Institute, including:
  • Monthly trainings at the BuildaBridge House, 
  • The Annual Institute offered the first week of June each year, 
  • International trainings as part of Arts Relief and Development, and the 
  • Online Institute.
View our Institute Wiki for current information on courses, history, VoiceThreads and more.


For the past several summers I have been involved with the BuildaBridge Institute training in Philadelphia, PA as a trainer and teacher. Fundamentally, the institute and training therein are about “Arts in Transformation”. The focus is not on being or becoming a therapist but it is about how the use of the arts can facilitate transformation, growth, and healing in a community environment. BuildaBridge has reached, and is active, literally around the world. I can tell you that these folks are the real deal when it comes to service work for the betterment of others. Jim Borling MM, MT-BC, Fellow, Association for Music and Imagery, Program Director, Music Therapy, Radford University



BuildaBridge Institute Facts

Since 2007, the Institute has partnered with the Urban Studies Department at Eastern University to offer a Master’s Degree in Urban Studies: Community Arts Concentration. Graduate students attend the Institute in June as part of their graduate curriculum work.

Now in its 12th year in 2013, the Annual Institute has trained more than 1000 professionals worldwide, and has attracted a faculty of 85 professionals in the field. In an impact study by public policy graduate students from Drexel University, 70% of Institute participants reported applying BuildaBridge methods in their community work. International participants have attended from Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Palestine, Norway, Scotland, Canada, Haiti, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Israel, Singapore and the Caribbean.


International Institutes and Training

View below the Trainers report of the Community Arts for Children Series training with UNICEF-Haiti in Haiti September-November 2012. 
The training was provided for 90 community works from 39 organizations in three locations. Three courses were provided in Haitian Kreyol: Arts for Transformation, Creative Safe Spaces, and Program Development . These are now 3 of 10 courses (being developed) to assist in the training of community leaders who work in contexts of crisis and of poverty. Downloadable audio recordings of the course texts are in process. A sample of first lesson of Arts for Transformation (Atizay Pou Chanjman) is available online. For now these are open online books.  Books are now being translated in Spanish, Haitian Creole and other languages
Atizay Pou Chanjman (Foundations for Community Arts)
Kreyatif San Danje (Creating Safe Spaces)
Devlopman Pwogram (Program Development)




 Online Training

A major goal of BuildaBridge is to provide online training for local and international community workers.  BuildaBridge is currently preparing materials for online learning.

 Description of Current Courses for Certification

CAD 100. Foundations for Trauma-Informed Art-Making (online tutorial)

This basic online orientation to the program provides a foundational framework, concepts and theories and requirements for studying the community arts.  The basic frameworks are creating a safe learning space and the psycho-social needs of children.  Terms included are hope, healing, resilience, arts-integrated and therapeutic art in a community context.   This is required prior to beginning any classes.  Successful completion of and online test is required.

CAD 101 Arts for Transformation

In this course, students learn the nature of Community Arts and how they are important for community development and building resilience. Focus is given to the role of creative people in transforming communities.  Students will also explore their community’s assets and needs and how to overcome barriers to community change. By the end of the course, the student will have identified a program idea and written steps to make it happen.
CAD 102 Creative Save Spaces

Students will learn about creating safe spaces for children and the role of the arts in child development. They will understand the importance of ritual and how the arts can help children learn. This course will also teach how to use the arts to create metaphors and foster resilience in children. Finally, students will explore basic elements that should be included in programing for children.
CAD 103 Program Development

In this course, students will learn the basics of program planning including vision and goal setting and measuring success. Students will also learn about engaging stakeholders in a project, different types of resource development, and practice writing letters to people who might give to a program. Finally, students will reflect on program sustainability. The course culminates in writing a project plan or grant including basic budgeting for the program idea and steps conceived in CAD 101.
CAD 104 Arts and Spirituality

Students develop practical arts-based teaching strategies helping children and youth in small and large classroom settings to develop virtues and a holistic spiritual awareness in themselves and an understanding of their relationship to others. Concrete theoretical discussions will provide the basis for understanding spiritual development that includes the development of character, virtues and values. This is an interactive and creative class in which students develop and engage in various artistic projects and explore their own spirituality while learning techniques for teaching diverse children and youth.

CAD 105 Arts and Human Development

This course is designed to introduce students to 1) the nature of art as a creative process, 2) the role of art-making in human development, 3) the concept of art skill acquisition from a developmental perspective, and 4) to the major schools of human development theory as they related to arts-based living and learning.  The course will aid students in their attempts to effectively plan arts-based interventions for populations of various ages and situations.

CAD 106 Global Arts for Children

Global Arts for Children explores the music and creative arts traditions in African, Asian, Latin American, European, Arab, and Native traditions around the world.  An emphasis is identifying, selecting culturally appropriate resources and creative experiences for teaching children; arts-based strategies to foster understanding, peace, and cultural competence; and writing new songs in local styles.   Students will develop an arts approach for working with children in crisis or poverty from one culture not their own.  This course is designed for psycho-social workers and artists. 

CAD 107 Culminating Portfolio

Throughout the program the student is to maintain a Community Arts portfolio.  The portfolio will contain weekly journal entries of course learning and course final projects. Test or quiz results.  A final paper or project demonstrating the application of program principles to the student’s local context is required.

Healing

CAD 201 Arts Relief and Social Services

Students will learn how to interact effectively with individuals who have recently undergone disasters such as flood, fire, earthquake, mudslide, hurricane, and terrorism. They will gain an understanding of therapeutic principles and how they may be applied to emergency arts relief.   In the second section of the course students will learn principles for arts-based social services for communities in the context of poverty.  Emphasis is placed on social services within community development.

CAD 202 Arts for Healing: The Healing Place

This intensive course introduces the student to the field of creative arts therapy and methods employed in therapeutic interventions. A focus will be given to the specific nature of the arts in healing trauma, and the role of the arts in fostering hope in young people in crisis or at risk, and the development or resilience. Specific strategies for arts as healing will be presented. A distinction is made between creative arts therapy and therapeutic art-making in the community context, along with the ethical considerations in working with children and youth. Demonstrations and experiential formats will be utilized. Project required.

Education

CAD 203 Arts in Education

This course prepares teachers and community workers to teach academic subjects and develop student’s creative thinking through art-making. There is a focus on curriculum writing, teaching strategies, learning styles, arts-as-metaphor, and classroom assessment.  Participants develop practical pedagogical strategies and curriculum writing skills for integrating the arts to teach academic subjects, social skills, character & spiritual development, and artistic skills. This is an interactive and creative class in which students design curricula and lesson plans for arts-integrated projects. Participants will deliver their lessons in interactive “teach-back” format.

CAD 204 Arts for Teaching Sacred Texts

A supplemental course to Arts in Education and Arts and Inner Character Development (pre-requisites), the goal of this course is to improve the ability of congregational educators and youth workers to use the arts teach sacred texts, concepts and scripture in a variety of settings (grade school, after-school, congregational school, youth retreats, camps, etc.).   Curriculum project is required.

CAD 205 Arts for Peace-Making and Conflict Resolution

A supplement to Arts in Education (a pre-requisite), this course provides a framework for using the creative arts and transformation drama to teach about conflict resolution.  The course uses art as metaphor and art as demonstration to teach basic peacemaking, conflict resolution and negotiation skills – skills that are embodied in and reinforced by the art-making process itself.  Art-making provides a vehicle for practicing and rehearsing the peacemaking skills.  Curriculum project required.

CAD 206 Arts and Community Health Education

Arts and Community Health Education is a fundamental course in the principles of community health sanitation, community services and public health agencies. The course helps the student to plan community-based arts in health projects evolve and work holistically to produce therapeutic and social benefits for both individuals and communities.  Concepts covered are community engagement, healthy choice and self-esteem, and raising awareness about HIV/AIDS and other pandemics through art-making.  The course helps to generate a range of social, educational and economic benefits within a community-health framework, and to successfully regenerate traditional cultural forms to create public participation in health promotion.

Community Development

CAD 207 Arts in Economic Development and Entrepreneurship

Arts in Economic Development and Entrepreneurship applies the theories of "An Introduction to Arts and Transformation" to practical problems arising from poverty and injustice in local communities. An emphasis will be placed on the process for becoming a catalyst within the community and the skills of community assessment and community program planning. Working models of community and economic development will be researched and critiqued.  The second part of the course looks at entrepreneurship and the business of art.  A simple business plan is required.

CAD 208 Arts and Social Change

Arts in Communication and Social Commentary presents the basic theory and practice of the communication role of the arts in society.  The two basic fields covered in the course are social commentary and social marketing. The arts are a vehicle for calling an unjust world into justice and righteousness.  They also are engaged for social education and marketing. The course provides opportunities for critical thinking skills in evaluating art as used in holistic community development.  Processes for communication, social commentary and political and conflict discourse are considered.  A major arts-based project is required.

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