2012 Success Stories

This summer, we partnered with the Philadelphia Refugee Mental Health Collaborative, Thomas Jefferson Hospital, the Mural Arts Program, and artist Harvey Finkle for Envisioning Home: Perspectives from Philadelphia Refugees. This powerful exhibition allowed newly resettled refugees, many of whom cannot speak English, to express their stories to over 10,000 visitors in an incredible display of their photography and corresponding personal narratives. WHYY’s Maiken Scott explains,

War, torture, loss of family and friends, refugees arriving in the United States often carry heavy emotional baggage. Then they endure the strains of adjusting to a new culture. A new exhibit at Philadelphia's Magic Gardens gallery now showcases the stories [of these] refugees. Culled from hundreds of images, the pictures in the Magic Gardens exhibit speak of longing for lost traditions.

Our 2012 Tile & Grout: Building Community program allowed North Philadelphia’s Excel Academy students to construct a beautiful mosaic mural within their own school. Excel Academy is an accelerated high school for over-age/ under-credited students; through our in-depth project, these students were able to permanently and positively affect their school by using their creativity and newly-acquired artistic skills.

"What an awesome job the students did with the mosaic!!! How impressive it is!!! It was wonderful to see the students engaged in making their own mosaics, in addition to the mosaic that was a group effort. Your motivation was contagious and [your] expertise an extremely great opportunity for the students to partake and learn."

Stories from 2011

A Personal Story of Success

While our visitation numbers are astonishing, it's the stories of the individuals that benefit from our programs that are truly powerful. In fact, this year, PMG provided free tours to over 150 underserved visitors and also hosted inexpensive monthly activities for all ages. This is an example of the community impact and individual growth that PMG and its programs offer:

Self-taught artist Ed Woltemate, Jr. is a Philadelphia-born adult who is deaf and mute and was "discovered" by nonprofit Coalition Ingenu because of his fantastic artistic abilities. He showcased his work publicly for the first time at PMG's exhibition, The Visionnaires, which was viewed by nearly 10,000 people. Though Woltemate, Jr. couldn't use words to express his gratitude at the reception, he ecstatically thanked PMG's entire staff through non-verbal communication.

Some major highlights from PMG's 2011 year include:

• Participating in successful Philadelphia partnerships, including the Philly Fringe Festival, Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts, Philadelphia Open Studio Tours, Philly Rising, One Book One Philadelphia, and ART/GAGE, in which PMG partnered with other area organizations to organize a street fair with 2000+ participants.
  
  
• Hosting short-term art exhibitions that impacted our city's creative community, featuring works by Ilana Shafir, an Israeli mosaicist; Leroy Johnson, a local African American sculptor; and the Oasis Arts Center, a group that promotes art made by individuals with disabilities.
  

• Cultivating new partnerships with corporations and grantors such as the City of Philadelphia, the Douty Foundation, the Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation, and Novak-Francella to support our low-cost community programs.